UAB President Ray Watts and Athletic Director Mark Ingram said on Wednesday the university is working with the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex on plans for a new, open-air football stadium.

The BJCC Authority voted last month to hire a Kansas City-based firm to update the complex's master plan, which includes "a new outdoor multi-purpose stadium" that could seat up to 55,000 people, according to documents obtained last month by AL.com.

The University of Alabama Board of Trustees passed a resolution in November stating they would support a long-term lease in that facility.

"Our planning team and athletics department have been working with the BJCC in the planning of the stadium," Watts said Wednesday afternoon after the unveiling of the university's new soccer facility. "They're discussing and negotiating long-term lease agreements. We're really excited about that."

The proposed contract obtained last month stated the BJCC Authority will pay Populous, an international sports facility design firm that led the stadium expansions at Texas A&M, LSU and Alabama, $165,000 to develop the plan. It would come complete with design concepts and cost estimates for three primary tasks: Renovating Legacy Arena at the BJCC, updating the entire BJCC Convention Complex "to keep the complex current and viable through 2035" and building the new outdoor stadium.

The plan is supposed to be completed by April 30, 2016. It's unclear how quickly the new football stadium can be built if the plan is approved.

"BJCC, to my understanding, continues to make progress toward the feasibility of doing a stadium," Ingram said Wednesday. "What that looks like in terms of scope and size, I don't know exactly. But if this happens, it's the home of the Blazers. That's so exciting for our teams and fans."

UAB's football program was shut down Dec. 2, 2014 and brought back to life June 1 of this year. The Blazers, under coach Bill Clark, are scheduled to return to the field for the 2017 season. Local business leaders who've led the effort to bring back the program privately have discussed the possibility of having a new stadium ready for the Blazers by either 2017 or 2018.

"Indeed, (if it happens), that's where our football team will call home," Watts said.