The project, which is scheduled to begin with external work in May, will see the current facilities gutted and a world class indoor training centre with a floor space of more than 2000 square metres placed on top of the existing structure.
The facility will be completed by July 2009 and Adelaide CEO Steven Trigg is confident the redevelopment will serve the club both on and off the field for the next 20 years.
"Part of our objective is to make sure that in terms of competitive advantage, and there is genuine competitive advantage in facilities, that this will be one of the best sporting facilities that you can find," Trigg said.
"We've been planning it for two years and we've been putting so much research into it, both from the point of view of football and preparing and conditioning our players and making sure they've got the best possible opportunity to play the best possible AFL football and, secondly, to make sure we can better connect with our fans.
"We're very confident we've been able to achieve both with these plans."
The redevelopment will see the 'footprint' of the current training facilities, built back in 1996, doubled to extend close to Max Basheer Reserve.
The indoor training centre will also replace the "Crows Shed", which is currently just that – a shed and is located some several-hundred metres from AAMI Stadium.
However, use of the new Crows Shed won't come into effect until the 2010 season.
Other features of the redevelopment include a larger weights room and gym, a performance laboratory and greater space for medical and rehabilitation providers.
The new facilities are also more supporter-friendly, with the inclusion of a Crows Museum, café', corporate space and a mezzanine overlooking Max Basheer Reserve.
"In really simple terms it's designed to bring fans inside our environment to see what we do, to be a part of it, to see what the players do and to work alongside of them in some cases," Trigg said.
"Our supporters will be able to come inside, have a coffee and a sandwich and watch the players train."
The second phase of work won't begin until the 2008 season has finished and the players take their end-of-year breaks, but the Crows have already begun fundraising to help make up the shortfall of the project
The naming rights to the facilities will also be sold off, not unlike the 'Lexus Centre' used by Collingwood in Melbourne.
"Funding is critical aspect. We're very confident we can put in place about $8 million in funding from our own capital reserve. We know that we've got some support from the Federal Government," Trigg said.
"We have a level of gearing that's going to be necessary, but to keep that down, a really important part of this exercise is to undertake a major gift campaign with corporate support and our general supporter base. We're going to need to raise about $2.5m in funding support and that process has already started."
