The Miami Dolphins Training Facility is located on the Nova Southeastern University

Nova Southeastern University

Nova Southeastern University, commonly referred to as NSU or Nova, is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian, research university located in Broward County, Florida, with its main campus in the town of Davie...

 main campus in Davie, Florida

Davie, Florida

Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. The town's population was 91,992 at the 2010 census.- History :Davie was founded by Jake Tannebaum and Tamara Toussaint. The original name of the town was Zona. In 1909 R.P. Davie assisted then Governor Broward by draining the swamplands...

. It is the headquarters location for the Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, as well as a location for frequent special events.

Architecture and features

Bowing trusses and a profile reminiscent of classic athletic facilities define this state of the art training facility. It includes one of the largest weight rooms in the NFL, training rooms, locker rooms , a therapy swimming pool, a cold plunge pool and whirlpools, numerous administrative offices, and a practice field. It also has a bleacher building, which can accommodate 2,000 spectators. The 56000 square feet (5,202.6 m²) facility is frequently used as a prototype for other professional football teams.
There is also an indoor training field known as "The Bubble." The 96600 square feet (8,974.4 m²) indoor facility covers 2.2 acres (8,903.1 m²) on the west side of the main building. The “bubble” is an air-supported structure manufactured and installed by Air Structures American Technologies Incorporated (ASATI) and constructed by Stiles Construction, the same corporation who worked on the expansion of Dolphin Stadium

Dolphin Stadium

Sun Life Stadium is an American football stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, a suburb of Miami. It is the home stadium of the Miami Dolphins National Football League team, and the University of Miami Hurricanes football team. It also hosts the Orange Bowl, an annual college football bowl game. It...

 for Super Bowl XLI

Super Bowl XLI

Super Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...

. The football field, installed by The Motz Group, is regulation size and made of synthetic turf consisting of 75% rubber and 25% sand to provide a firm-playing surface. The inlaid markings duplicate those on the Dolphin Stadium game-day field. Loud crowd noise can also be replicated in the bubble.

History

The Dolphins trained at St. Thomas University

St. Thomas University (Florida)

St. Thomas University is a private Roman Catholic university in the Miami, Florida, United States suburb of Miami Gardens.-History:The University traces its roots to the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva, founded in 1946 in Havana, Cuba, named after Saint Thomas of Villanova, by...

 from July 12, 1970 until June 4, 1993. The ribbon cutting ceremony

Ribbon cutting ceremony

]A ribbon cutting ceremony is a public ceremony conducted to inaugurate the opening to the general public of a new building or business.Often, the ceremony is conducted in just the manner the name suggests: by tying a ceremonial ribbon across the main entrance of the building, which is then cut in...

 for the new training facility was July 11, 1993.

The Bubble

September 26, 2006 the Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 made their first significant expansion to the facility since it first opened with the opening of an air supported air conditioned indoor training field. The structure is 96600 square feet (8,974.4 m²) and is 72 feet (21.9 m) tall in the center.

“We’re proud to become the first professional football team in Florida to have such a venue. We believe it will help the team from a competitive standpoint as it will allow for closer game simulation during practice and allow the team to continue practicing even when storms roll in,” Bryan Wiedmeier, president of the Miami Dolphins, said.

The fabric used is extremely light, yet strong. Inflation is maintained via fans in the HVAC units through the integrated control system.

The structure was designed to withstand hurricane force winds up to category three. Internal air pressure is increased to "stiffen" the structure to withstand wind loading. The Bubble is currently owned by Jerome Harriott of Blockbuster and he leases it out to the Miami Dolphins for a bit of pay. (Forbes 2006)

Super Bowl XLI

The 2006

2006 NFL season

The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

 AFC

American Football Conference

The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....

 Champion Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

 used the facility while preparing for Super Bowl XLI

Super Bowl XLI

Super Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...

. The other team, NFC

National Football Conference

The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...

 Champion Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 used the Miami Hurricanes Football Facility at the University of Miami

University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

.