So it is the offseason... and some of us on the Panther boards have started to make a wish list for what we want done to Turner Field IF we are able to get it.

It got me thinking about other stadium's in the Belt. What would you add or change about your home field? Need more concessions? Bathrooms? Better/larger tailgating area? What kind of improvements would y'all like to see in your place?

Colored endzones. Ours are field green with white letters spelling TROJANS. Would be nice to go back to the cardinal endzones. Maybe when the endzone facility gets built...

I once told a friend that the turf we were going to install would be green between the twenties, the twenties to the goal line red, and the end zones black so that people could see the red zone. He liked to have lost his mind when I told him that (Crump knows who I'm talking about).

Seriously once we finish the indoor practice facility (under construction), the new pressbox (likely to break ground this fall) and the ops center (may break ground next spring) we don't need much other than adding some additional lights.

At that point it we will need to start thinking about some basketball, volleyball, baseball expenditures and maybe a softball field if we ever add it.

In our case, the outline is already in place. Once they finish the end zone work which should be before the first game, the next step is the 65,000 sqft athletic performance center attached to the indoor practice facility. The APC is due to be completed by mid 2015. Hopefully by that time we'll have most of the funding identified for the major overhaul of the home side of the stadium which will include a new upper deck, suites. press, and club areas. Also included will be a 7 story building below that new upper deck for loads of office, sales, concessions, and restroom facilities. A new baseball grandstand is also included in that phase.

I'd like things off the top of my head

1) Move student tailgating back to Lot 4 on the east side

2) Add suites and facade to east side

3) All new field turf so the colors match. They cut out a square to remove the WAC logo and drop in the SBC logo. The green is a different shade than the rest of the field and it looks JV.

The only thing I can really think of is bigger video boards.

One thing has always bugged me though about our stadium and maybe another TXST fan can enlighten me, but is there a purpose of the structure on top of the northside endzone complex? Or is it simply a place for cameras to sit?

Monitors at concession areas so those in line can see the game...makes people more willing to buy and eases lines at halftime.

Signature food item...such as many minor league ballparks or racetracks have.

Beer.

Just a couple of simple things.

NMSU's current to do list for FB (Funding Pending):

Renovate Concession stands and Bathrooms.

Build a new press box with suites and club seating.

The 2 above should be top priority. Fan amenity's need attention.

What I think needs to be done after the two items above:

New video Scoreboard. The current one is about dated and it would be great to have it in HD.

One thing that I have proposed in similar discussions on NMSU's boards is a bar and grill at the top of the east stands of AMS. I really believe in fan amenities, which AMS has been lacking.

We will begin serving alcohol in our basketball arena, hopefully AMS will be able to too in the future.

I think our next "improvement" to the stadium will need to be our turf. The real grass has become incredibly difficult to maintain. With all of the advances to technology I wouldn't mind seeing us install some form of field-turf.

(07-18-2014 04:18 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  Monitors at concession areas so those in line can see the game...makes people more willing to buy and eases lines at halftime.

Signature food item...such as many minor league ballparks or racetracks have.

I'd like both of these things. The signature food item is a big deal at a lot of those places. It'd be nice to have something that you can only get in the stadium a few times a year that people HAVE to have.

(07-18-2014 04:35 PM)SpiritCymbal Wrote:  I think our next "improvement" to the stadium will need to be our turf. The real grass has become incredibly difficult to maintain. With all of the advances to technology I wouldn't mind seeing us install some form of field-turf.

It might be costly to maintain but it's one of the best turf football fields I have seen. Considering how much turfgrass is produced in the region, I'd like it to stay.

Edit... to answer the OP question, I don't know yet! We'll find out shortly.

(07-18-2014 06:59 PM)bullitt_60 Wrote:  

(07-18-2014 04:35 PM)SpiritCymbal Wrote:  I think our next "improvement" to the stadium will need to be our turf. The real grass has become incredibly difficult to maintain. With all of the advances to technology I wouldn't mind seeing us install some form of field-turf.

It might be costly to maintain but it's one of the best turf football fields I have seen. Considering how much turfgrass is produced in the region, I'd like it to stay.

Edit... to answer the OP question, I don't know yet! We'll find out shortly.

I'd love to see it stay as well, but I think its days are numbered. Might be a few years, but I think we'll see turf in Paulson at some point.

I do not like our end zones. Black with gold letters outlined in white, please.

Black field with gold yard lines... just joking. We need to add the Sun Belt logo and then when prudent close in the north end zone with seats.

Things I'd like for Bobcat Stadium:

- Better organization in the concessions.
- Green tailgating area that is consolidated (maybe put the alumni on one end)
- Suites & Facade on the "visitor" side.
- Better sound system.
- Larger video boards.
- Someone who understands how to work video boards.
- New turf totally redone to have matching colors. Maybe even a shade of green different inside the twenty's to clearly show the red zone (not sure how that'd look though).
- Inside the stadium access to the fan shop/a second fan shop inside the stadium.
- Immediate and permanent removal of the "piss troughs".
- Actual stands with seat backs as opposed to the temporary seat backs added.
- Strutter poles

I want to see the south side stands expanded to match the length of the north side stands. Also, I think Paulson could use some video ribbons along the mid deck and maybe even some temporary ones on the press box. And even though it's way way down the road in the future, I eventually want Bishop Field House either remodeled or removed and the stadium should be bowled on that side.

I would like to see the 'horseshoe' of seating completed. And like Arkstfan mentioned, more lights.
The restroom capacities are yet to be seen. Hopefully they will be sufficient.

But overall, I'm more than pleased with what we're doing.

No track.

(07-18-2014 07:30 PM)AppinVA Wrote:  I do not like our end zones. Black with gold letters outlined in white, please.

Our field was designed by Jerry Moore and he is solely responsible for the end zones.

(07-19-2014 11:04 AM)AppManDG Wrote:  

(07-18-2014 07:30 PM)AppinVA Wrote:  I do not like our end zones. Black with gold letters outlined in white, please.

Our field was designed by Jerry Moore and he is solely responsible for the end zones.

At least it no longer has soccer and field hockey lines stitched in.