Fans Will Have Some of the Comforts of Home Friday at Russo Park
Last week, (then) Interim Director of Athletics Dr. Jessica Leger gave an informative presentation about things fans need to know about the opening of M. L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park. Among other things, Dr. Leger unveiled the new parking procedure, what areas will be off limits while construction continues, how to enter the park and other information. You can see that presentation here.
But what about when you get into the stadium? What can fans expect then?
Assistant Athletics Director for Operations David Faber says, while construction continues, there will be some things that will be a little different, but had some good news as well.
RESTROOMS WILL BE FUNCTIONAL--They're not having to bring in port-o--lets. The new restrooms on the concourse are fully functional. That means, right off the bat, there are more restroom available then fans had a year ago.
CONCESSIONS WILL BE PORTABLE, FOR NOW--That will change as construction continues. The new concession stand on the concourse isn't quite ready, so concessions will be portable stands set up on the concourse, similar to what fans have seen at "The Tigue" in the past. It won't be long, though, before the new concession area on the concourse is fully functional.
THE SCOREBOARD--The good news is, the scoreboard will work. Score by innings, balls, strikes and outs will be up there for all to see. The video board, however, won't be available for a while. And, that could mean a good part of the season. That equipment will be housed on the suite/press level and that isn't accessible. So it'll be bare bones in that regard.
THE PA SYSTEM--Some of the new speakers will be functional, but not all. This means it may not be as loud as you hope for. That'll get better as time goes on, but only about half of the speakers will be used this weekend.
BROADCAST--While this won't affect the fans, many have asked about the ability to broadcast the games. The press box won't be available but the broadcasts will be. We'll be setting up at the top of the grandstand area. We are being provided the (bare) necessities to execute a broadcast. Hopefully, listeners won't notice a difference. If everything works, we'll be fine. And, yes, we have a backup plan if something goes awry. And, even at the top of the grandstand, we'll be higher up than we were in the press box a year ago.
Here's the bottom line. Just like the stadium structure is a work in progress, so is just about everything else. My guess is, every weekend when fans enter, they'll notice something a little different and a little better.
But you have restrooms. That's a good thing.