Stadium receives several upgrades

Scoreboard, press box, paint job to be complete by football season

Carolyn Walser / senior photographer The new scoreboard at Bridgeforth Stadium is 50 feet tall.

Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field received several upgrades over the summer in time for the new football season, including a new scoreboard put in place Aug. 1, a press box and a new coat of paint.

According to Sheila Moorman, intercollegiate athletic administrator, the new scoreboard has a video component with a 17 feet by 13 feet video display area, one of the reasons the press box was expanded. "We expanded the press box to create a video control space for production of the video feed to the board on game day," Moorman said.

The scoreboard is a Daktronics model located in the stadium’s west end zone, is 50 feet from the ground, 70 feet wide and 30 feet high.

It also includes traditional scoreboard features that display the game clock, score, quarter, down and distance information, according to the JMU sports Web site.

Junior Josh Wyatt said, "I think the new scoreboard is great and it will hopefully raise the team’s morale and boost attendance at the games."

Money for the scoreboard came from the athletic reserve fund and from selling ad space to companies, Moorman said. "Everything will be done in time for football season and our first home game on Sept. 4," Moorman said.

More rental bleachers also were added to the stadium on the scoreboard end. According to Moorman, more seating will be available to students than a year ago, but these seats only are temporary.

Junior Chris Beaudin said, "[The stadium upgrades are] awesome. Finally, it’s looking like a real college stadium instead of high school bleachers. Now we just need to fix up the Convo." The $10 million Robert E. and Frances W. Plecker Athletic Performance Center, which sits near the south end of the stadium, still is under construction with the hopes that substantial completion should be in January 2005, according to Moorman. The center will house new football locker rooms, a team lounge, strength and conditioning center, training/rehabilitation facilities and an equipment room. Move-in would not be possible until the late spring or early summer of 2005. "Lots of things must occur inside the building before move in can occur," Moorman said.