Colorado will be ready in late September to announce a major “transformational” long-range plan that would upgrade the school’s sports facilities and be a 50- to 100-year solution to challenges faced by the athletics department and the campus as a whole, CU athletics director Mike Bohn told reporters Tuesday.

Bohn did not reveal a priority list of proposed improvements but acknowledged that football coaches have been telling prospective recruits this spring that the construction of an indoor football practice facility is in the planning stages.

A year-long “extensive” review of Colorado’s athletics facilities has targeted needed improvements to Folsom Field, the interior of the Coors Events Center and to “areas around the stadium,” Bohn said.

Bohn declined to offer specifics. But it’s no secret that the indoor football practice facility likely would be located immediately northeast of Folsom Field along Stadium Drive. The indoor facility could be used by other sports.

Other proposed facility improvements include an expansion of the student recreational center (including the addition of an ice rink); upgrading 75-year-old Balch Fieldhouse; and expanding the Dal Ward Center athletics building north of the stadium.

The Dal Ward expansion could provide additional office space, a dedicated academic and life-skills area for student-athletes, and more room for medical and weight-training needs.

What will all this cost? Bohn said he could not provide an answer. He said the university and athletics department is engaged in a feasibility study of proposed improvements with the CU Foundation. The foundation raises and manages private funds for university development.

“It’s not a dream,” Bohn said. “How much money do we think we can raise? How does it take to fit into the formula of what we’re working on? Those are not easy answers.

“It takes time. It is extremely complex. So we don’t want to just come up with an empty promise,” he added. “We’re working really hard. We’re going to come up with a plan that has gone through every step in the process. We want to be agile to see what we can afford.”

Bohn said university leaders are on board with the feasibility study because upgrades to sports facilities could free up space for additional non-athletics improvements such as lecture halls, classrooms and faculty offices.

Presently, several athletics-related offices are scattered inside the football stadium. Confining those offices to an expanded Dal Ward Center would provide options in and around the stadium for academic use.

“We believe the stadium (area) footprint is a potential solution to campus-wide challenges in a big way,” Bohn said.

This is an ambitious project, one that would take an unprecedented amount of private donations. Colorado lacks a billionaire sugar daddy such as Nike’s Phil Knight with Oregon or oil man T. Boone Pickens with Oklahoma State. Bohn said in its history Colorado has received only seven donations of $1 million or more. But Colorado’s move to the Pac-12 Conference has opened the doors to tens of thousands of CU alumni living on the West Coast who now may be willing to reach into their pockets.

“It’s a bonanza,” Bohn said of Colorado joining the Pac-12.

To take advantage, and to tap into other resources, Colorado is adding a senior-level chief marketing officer who will oversee a marketing department that continues to expand.

“It’s important that we grow and establish our brand,” Bohn said. “That’s how we can make this happen.”

Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com