SU begins facelift

 
Coming over Harding Boulevard you can physically see the progress being made on campus and the athletic department is also making some physical changes as well.
Last semester under interim athletics director and women’s head basketball coach Sandy Pugh, saw the resurfacing of the tennis courts, and that was the start of a slew of improvements that the department is doing to try to change the face of SU athletics.
Over the summer, the department was able to allocate an estimated $120,000 to completely resod the outfield of Lee-Hines Field.
When Southern received full accreditation from the NCAA over the summer one of the issues that has to be address is gender equity, and current athletics director William Broussard proposed a five-year gender equity master plan to address those issues.
In the plan the department will address women’s soccer, softball, women’s track and women’s basketball.
In the women’s soccer, the department has cleared the ground for a new soccer field in the north end of campus by the Agriculture Center.
In softball, the department has plans to rent lights so that the team can play night games and also install modular restrooms.
“That’s really important because you get later into those springtime games and it gets really hot out, and you have to play one o’clock and three o’clock games, and students are still in class, so if we are able to play a selection of games (at night) we can really see an impact in generating a larger crowd,” said Broussard.
The modular restrooms that are to be installed are “semi-permanent” and are more advance than your standard portable-toilet, the company that supplies the facility come in on a regular basis to sanitize and clean, and at the end of season the company come back in to completely remove it from the premises.
Future aspirations for the field are to install permanent restrooms and to possibly rotate the field around.
“We are looking at a $500,000 minimum for those projects,” said Broussard. “As for now, the department will look to just maintain and improve on the basics to have an adequately functioning facility.”
Another project is the resurfacing the track at A. W. Mumford Stadium. The 26-year-old track has never been resurfaced, and it is recommended to resurface a track every six years.
Also the basketball court at the F.G. Clark Activity Center is also being resurfaced, the court is being given a totally new look with new graphics for a modern look for both men’s and women’s basketball.
The projects in place for Mumford will be done in phases such as the installation of graphics inside of the stadium to help give the stadium a more contemporary look.
“These projects are in place to create a buzz for fans and students about Southern athletics and to also get people to support the projects privately to further complete the projects,” said Broussard.