After an eight-month period that involved crews tuck-pointing 282,000 bricks and replacing 9,734 windowpanes with energy-efficient glass, construction efforts will begin  on the interior of Hinkle Fieldhouse.

As Hinkle approaches it’s 85th birthday this spring, work on new student-athlete facilities is set to begin. A larger conditioning room, a new sports medicine center and a total remodel of existing locker rooms  are slated to be added.

Having raised more than $13 million since the “Campaign for Hinkle Fieldhouse”  kicked off publicly last November,  Mike Freeman, associate athletic director, said the university has been pleasantly surprised with the outpouring of nationwide support for the iconic building.

“Hinkle Fieldhouse is such a unique building, so we expected a certain amount of help from what might be considered non-traditional donors,” he said. “We are still getting people on board, but we have had a good amount of support from other groups.”

Fundraising efforts are set to conclude Dec. 31 this year.

A lot of excitement among players is coming from the new academic center for student-athletes —the first of its kind at Butler.

Freshman women’s basketball guard Blaire Langlois believes the center will inspire a better sense of camaraderie among student- athletes.

“Right now we just have ours in our locker room for basketball, and other sports have different places,” Langlois said. “So to have somewhere that all of the athletes can meet is going to be really great for all the athletes at Butler.”

Freeman said improvements focusing on the fan experience are also on the calendar for sometime in 2014, the highlight being a new scoreboard with video playback capabilities, as well as improved seating, restrooms and concessions.

“(These) options will be great updates for our fans,” Freeman said.