By Ally DeJong
Staff Writer
Over the summer, renovations were made to the main field and surrounding areas. These changes include a new scoreboard, larger press box and remodeling of the sidewalks and concession areas.
After the last scoreboard was repeatedly struck by lightning, a new one was bought and set up for the 2011 football season.
“The number one [change] that we have is the new scoreboard because now we can see the score and times of the games being played,” athletic director Jason Amy said.
When new bleachers were installed in 2008, they blocked the view of the field from the press box. This year a new, larger press box was constructed and put in place. Some students feel the new press box is beneficial in other ways too.
“[The new press box] gives us athletes a better opportunity to get noticed by colleges because with being higher up you can see the field easier. When it was lower you would lose people when trying to video tape them,” senior football player Dexter Jarmon said.
The concrete and sidewalk additions around the concession area and field house were put in for students, players and fans so they would no longer have to walk through muddy areas to get to concessions. Surrounding the sidewalks are plants and mulch. Some students liked the new changes and thought it complimented the area.
“The [renovations] are amazing because it makes the field look a lot nicer than it did. People actually want to come and watch games,” junior Justin King said.
Other students felt the changes were impractical.
“I think that the sidewalks took away a lot of the places where people would hang out, so it is probably going to get trampled on or torn up,” Jarmon said.
Although the school did not say the exact cost to make these enhancements, Blice said that most of them were funded through donations, volunteers and left over building funds.