URBANDALE — Planning will soon be underway for an expanded practice and operations space for the top-ranked Hawkeye wrestling team after the state Board of Regents on Wednesday approved the University of Iowa’s request to proceed with project planning for the facility at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The project would add a 3,700 square-foot, two-level practice and operations facility — providing additional workout facilities, training areas, locker rooms, office space, and a tunnel connecting the building to Carver, according to regents’ documents.

The $17 million to $20 million project will be funded by UI Athletic Department gifts, and the project has already received $9 million in gift commitments. The Iowa Athletics Department is a self-sustaining unit of the university not supported by general-fund appropriations.

The facility fits into the Athletic Department’s multiyear master-planning effort that requires and benefits from donors and supporters, UI Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations Rod Lehnertz said.

The new facility will also have a Hall of Champions to showcase the Hawkeye wrestling team’s accomplishments including 23 NCAA team titles, 35 Big Ten Conference team titles, and 335 All-American honors.

“Wrestling is a strong suit at the University of Iowa,” Lehnertz said. “We have been an epicenter for the wrestling world nationally and internationally for decades.”

The project is much needed, he said, and can benefit from the momentum generated from the current wrestling team’s success.

With regents’ approval, the UI will establish the consultants and designers for the project through a search process and then develop the scope and cost of the project to work on fundraising efforts, Lehnertz said.

The UI will come back to the regents with the scope and cost of the project after the planning process is completed, Lehnertz said.