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LSU Unveils Renderings of New Baseball and Softball Stadiums
Courtesy: LSU Sports Information
Release: 07/26/2006
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BATON ROUGE - LSU athletics director Skip Bertman unveiled architectural renderings Wednesday of LSU's new baseball and softball stadiums.
Ground breaking for baseball is scheduled for late March and softball is scheduled for early March. Each new stadium is slated to open in 2009.
"This is the next logical step in building upon the success of our baseball and softball programs," said Bertman, who built the Tiger baseball program as head coach from 1984-2001 and won five national championships. "LSU fans, the best fans in America, deserve outstanding college baseball and softball facilities.”
The New Alex Box Stadium will be located at the corner of Nicholson Drive and Gourrier Lane, about 200 yards south of the current site of Alex Box Stadium, and will seat 8,700 fans.
The New Tiger Park softball stadium will be located on Skip Bertman Drive, across from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.
In the New Alex Box Stadium, the Tiger baseball team will enjoy 6,000 additional square-feet of locker and meeting room space, new batting cages and all the amenities necessary to field a consistent winner.
With 700 more seats under roof, 7,000 additional square-feet of restroom accommodations, 3,000 additional square-feet of concession stands, expanded ticket booths, an arcade and novelty shop, children's play grounds, a Hall of Fame and a Club Lounge, 19 luxury suites, the New Alex Box Stadium will also provide a comfortable home for the LSU baseball faithful.
The New Tiger Park will feature 1,289 seats - including 587 chair-back seats - and the capability of accommodate 1,200 more fans on an outfield berm.
The berm/earthwork package was completed last year and has been settling in preparation for construction.
The softball stadium will also feature first-class team facilities, including a locker room, team lounge, meeting facility, training facility, equipment room, indoor batting cages and umpire locker rooms.
All seats in the New Tiger Park will be angled toward the playing field, and the facility will include an open concourse with concessions areas and video monitors.
Adequate press facilities and club seating or private suites will be included in each new stadium, plus enhanced lighting for night and televised games. The stadiums will also be designed to allow for future expansion.
All LSU fans will have the opportunity to participate and keep up with the news surrounding the planning and construction phases of the projects at www.MakeYourPitch.net, the official web site of the New Alex Box Stadium and of the new softball facility.
Construction of New Baseball Stadium Proposed
Courtesy: LSU Interactive
Release: 01/11/2005
BATON ROUGE - LSU athletics director Skip Bertman will propose the construction of a new baseball stadium to open in 2008 to the LSU Board of Supervisors, he announced Tuesday.
The stadium would be located at the corner of Nicholson Drive and Gourrier Lane, about 2,000 feet south of the current site of Alex Box Stadium, and would seat approximately 8,000 Tiger baseball fans.
"This is the next logical step in building upon the success of our baseball program," said Bertman, who built the Tiger baseball program as head coach from 1984-2001 and won five national championships. "LSU fans, the best baseball fans in the America, deserve the best college baseball stadium in America.
"Alex Box Stadium is a treasure and this was no easy decision," Bertman said. "We studied a number of proposals and considered the pros and cons of renovating the Box or building a new facility. A new stadium is in the best interests of the long-term future of LSU baseball and our campus Master Plan."
"There is no greater atmosphere for college baseball than at Alex Box Stadium, and that experience will be tremendously enhanced by the new facility," said LSU coach Smoke Laval, who has directed the Tigers to the College World Series in each of the past two seasons. "We're very excited about the modernization process and the benefits it will produce for our fans and players. We cherish all of the unforgettable moments we've shared in Alex Box Stadium, and we're looking forward to creating more memories in the new stadium."
Alex Box Stadium was built in the 1930s and has been renovated and updated a number of times. LSU's proposed Master Plan calls for the stadium to be relocated to permit the expansion of the University's academic facilities.
The new stadium, which will be named Alex Box Stadium, will be paid for by the LSU Athletics Department through a combination of the sale of revenue bonds and private donations. The expected cost of the project is approximately $23 million.
By moving the stadium to a new location, LSU will be able to offer more spacious seating, generous concourse areas for expanded concessions stands and restrooms, as well as better and more spacious practice and dressing facilities for the team and parking for fans.
Adequate press facilities and club seating or private suites will be included in the new facility, plus enhanced lighting for night and televised games. Also, the stadium will be designed to allow for future expansion.
When the stadium opens in 2008, all existing season ticket holders will be assured of receiving similar seats as allowed by the stadium design. All fans with grandstand seats will have the first opportunity to buy grandstand seats in a similar location in the new stadium. The grandstand of the new stadium will be covered by a roof and all grandstand seats will have chair backs.
The decision to build a new stadium was reached after a three-month study by architects to attempt to renovate the existing Alex Box Stadium. The study showed the cost of renovation would be approximately $15 million and would take three years to complete.
"A renovation of the current stadium would not have allowed us to accomplish many of the fan amenities we will be able to provide in a new facility, and it would have restricted future expansion as our fan base grows," Bertman said. "In addition, the time required to renovate the stadium would result in an inconvenience for our fans and would interrupt one baseball season for the LSU team."
The stadium will be located just west of Nicholson Drive and north of Gourrier Lane, across from the LSU Golf Course. The stadium will feature a combination of chair back and bleacher seating.
With approval, construction would begin in August of 2006 with first pitch slated for February of 2008.
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