Showing posts with label Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. Show all posts

Friday, July 1, 2011

Improvements planned as JSU takes over Miss. Veterans Stadium

Jackson, MS - Gone will be that ancient video board towering over the field and that puny broken one atop the opposite end zone. Upgrades are coming to those rickety elevators and that paint-chipped press box, too.

Jackson State fans will see a few noticeable differences at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium this fall, the first year the university is in control of the 60-year-old venue. Today, JSU takes ownership of the stadium from the Department of Finance and Administration for at least three years, according to a legislative bill passed in March. University officials said earlier this year they will pour $1.5 million to $3 million into the structure - most, if not all of those funds, coming from a legislative bond bill.



The worn press box will get a new paint job and the elevator to the press box and club levels will be renovated. But more importantly, JSU fans will see two new scoreboards when they enter the 60,000-seat stadium on Sept. 3 for the team's opener against Concordia College.

The stadium's outdated jumbotron is to be replaced with a massive virtual scoreboard that will more than double the size of the current video screen.



READ MORE

Friday, August 1, 2008

Offer on table, but JSU hasn't signed it

Jackson State and the Department of Finance and Administration have yet to reach an agreement on the tenant-renter relationship for Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, DFA deputy executive director Rita Wray said Wednesday. The Tigers are scheduled to play their football home opener in the 67-year-old stadium on Sept. 6 against Stillman.

The DFA assumed control of the facility from a governor-appointed Stadium Commission July 1, per state legislation. "Nothing signed today .... but it's on the table," Wray said. "I received their stadium proposal that included (all of their concerns) and they were incorporated within that contract. I think it's going to be a win-win for both."

Jackson State president Ronald Mason has said the university would like control of game day operations and the opportunity to make more money off concessions, parking and advertising. Wray maintained that, "DFA will operate the stadium."

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Stadium's future now lies in Jackson State's, DFA's hands

For anyone looking seriously at the future of Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, the numbers tell the tale. The last time Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium was filled to capacity was 1984, when Alcorn State University took on Mississippi Valley State University for the 1984 SWAC championship. Alcorn beat Valley 42-28 before 63,808 fans.

Originally called Mississippi Memorial Stadium, the stadium was proposed as a 35,000-seat monument to the state's veterans of World Wars I and II. The stadium was later completed to the 46,000 seat level in the 1950s.

Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium

The stadium often had capacity crowds for Southeastern Conference games in the 1960s and 1970s - crowds swelling to the point that in 1980, the decision was made to expand the stadium by 16,500 seats to 62,500 seats. Subsequent renovations dropped the current seating to the official 60,492 seats.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.