If you build it, they will come.

At least that's the plan.

Aurora University is moving in that direction – and moving into Montgomery.

The school is well into phase one of construction of an athletic park on the south side of Jericho Road near the intersection with Edgelawn Drive on the village's far north side. When complete, the project will feature new stadiums for softball, baseball, soccer and lacrosse and potentially an indoor Spartan Dome as a year-round practice and competition venue.

Ground was broken this spring and turf was laid down last week for the softball stadium, which will be ready for the upcoming season.

The university expects to spend $40 million, funded through private donations, on the project over the next 10 years for new facilities on the 90-acre parcel.

"This is a facility that prospective students are going to be wowed by," Aurora University Athletic Director Jim Hamad said. "As our teams have done better and better, we've attracted more and more students. This will really show students from around the country what we can provide in terms of competition space."

Indeed, the school's athletics are growing.

This upcoming season close to 700 athletes are expected to compete for Aurora in 24 NCAA sports. In just the last six years Aurora added six sports – men's volleyball, men's and women's hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, and women's bowling. Aurora expects to welcome 345 freshman student-athletes alone this fall.

In recent years Aurora redid large aspects of Thornton Gymnasium, where basketball is played, and updated locker rooms and weight rooms. But the university's last major outdoor construction was Vago Field, where football and soccer are played, in 2008.

Aurora's baseball and softball teams currently play on fields in the Stuart Sports Complex owned by the Fox Valley District.

"We have been doing really well in the world of athletics, despite the fact that some of our teams have been using third-party fields," said Steven McFarland, vice president for university communications. "We thought it was time to have a centralized home for the Spartans. The next challenge was what is the right place to build it."

The university in 2016 purchased the first 45 acres of land that used to be the privately-run Wolf Run golf course. Aurora later added 45 more acres from a closed church, spending $3 million on the purchase.

"We looked at a number of sites. One was in Aurora, surrounded by residential, but there was no room for growth," McFarland said. "We still wanted to be close to campus. Everything lined up."

The first phase of the project is construction of a new softball stadium, and a multi-sport stadium to be used for soccer, lacrosse and, down the road, potentially football. The next stage, in the spring of 2018, will call for development of a new baseball stadium. Subsequent phases will focus on facilities for track and field and tennis, and a Spartan Dome indoor practice facility.

"There's always a chance that plans will be tweaked but we're pretty confident that baseball needs to happen. What might change are the plans for the dome," McFarland said. "It's pretty amazing what we've been able to put together so far and how quickly the softball stadium has been built."

The 350-seat softball stadium will feature a turf outfield and dirt infield conducive to hosting large events. Aurora did host an NCAA lacrosse game this past spring. The new athletic park allows the school to explore further opportunities.

Unlike at Vago Field, which has no lights, light posts will go up for the softball stadium and Spartan Stadium. Parking, a minimum of 500 spots, is included in the project.

"When you look at the recruiting wars, we want facilities to not only match other schools that we compete with but pass them up," Hamad said. "Athletically, we're about as good as any school in the conference and area. Once we have these facilities it should only add to the institution's reputation. The future is very bright."