The south end zone scoreboard has seen better days.
Fresno State is installing a new 1.3 million dollar state of the art scoreboard in the north end of Bulldog Stadium. Various corporate sponsors are footing the bill. The plan is for the new scoreboard to be ready for use September 30 vs. Colorado State. Too bad the University could not have been on the ball and had it ready for the season opener on ESPN against Nevada. Or at least for the following week against Pac 10 power Oregon. The scoreboard will supposedly be the largest one on the West Coast and will feature a 72 x 51 foot video screen.
The current Fresno State scoreboard is located in the south end zone and was constructed in 1991. At the time of construction it was one of the most modern scoreboards in the nation. That scoreboard was capable of showing video replays and was supposed to be converted in 1992 to do so. However, the plan to convert the board into a video screen never happened and Fresno State's "new" scoreboard became quickly outdated.
In 2001 the University rented a temporary video board for the home opener on ESPN against No. 10 Oregon State. A large crane, in the north end zone, suspended the video board. That board was used for a majority of the 2001 season and sporadically for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 seasons. Last season the University installed a temporary video board atop the small north end scoreboard, and for once Bulldog Stadium had a modern look.
Athletic Director Thomas Boeh announced to Bark Board readers a couple of months ago that the University was in the process of installing a state of the art scoreboard and artificial playing surface for Bulldog Stadium.
.......In the meantime, we hope to initiate a few other modest-with-high-impact improvements to Bulldog Stadium in the next 18 months. Included in the plan is a state-of-the-art scoreboard/video wall for the north end, a rubber-filled artificial playing surface (eg: AstrPlay, FieldTurf, etc.), and enhanced amenities such as restrooms and concession stands. Look for the plan later this summer.
Is field turf next and new restrooms and concessions next?
***update*** Like always, the wrong information is leaked before the official University release. The new scoreboard will not be the largest in the West and the video screen will be a paltry 24x32, but at least it will LED, but there is no mention of HD capabilities. And another LED video board will replace an existing message board at the corner of Cedar and Barstow. The cost for both will be 1.6 million, not 1.3.****update***
4 comments:
Sweet!
good stuff. i think it'd be great to have it ready for the opener but cant complain. i cant wait to see it.
At long last we finally will be catching up with,and maybe even surpassing many of the other schools out here in the west that have really nice and up-to-date football stadiums with all the fine amenities such as big video boards and the great addition of the new field-turf and rest-rooms,consession stands etc. Perhaps, these new additions might just do the trick in loosening up some of the big money people and business in this huge and rich valley and perhaps even get the attention of a big corporate sponsor interseted in attaching it's name to an up-and-coming great football program named Fresno state?
I don't know if any of the really great people that so kindly stepped in true "BULLDOG FASHON" and made these great and much needed improvements possible. But I and my family and certainly thousands of other FS Bulldogs faithfull would like to say, THANK YOU! THANK YOU, So very much and God bless you for your generosity in sharing with us all in Bulldog Nation. M.C. Fresno. Go Dogs!
Thanks for the kind words, and I will continue to do my best to report all the latest ins and outs of Bulldog football.
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