The Board of Regents approved plans to renovate the scoreboard on the north end zone of Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium during its meeting Wednesday.

The regents approved the proposal for the new scoreboard and authorized the University of Oklahoma to pay no more than $2,800,000 for the construction and no more than $1,500,000 for the purchase and installation of the new scoreboard.

The renovation will replace the scoreboard in the existing clocktower on the north side of the stadium. Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said keeping the existing exterior of the north side of the stadium intact was very important. The clocktower, specifically, was a part of the stadium that was added on during renovations in 2001, he said.

“We want our facilities to feel like they are part of the campus, not just look like add-ons,” Castiglione said. “So everything that we have done, even restoring or renovating other structures have included a move toward making the architecture itself look more like a campus facility. I think the fact that we get to celebrate having our stadium right in the center of campus and this energy it creates for game day is something that is very unique. But also, because people walk by it every single day, we want it to have the feel and the beauty of all the facilities and buildings on campus.”

Castiglione said the plan is to have the renovations done by the start of the 2018-2019 season. This plan is another phase in the renovation of the stadium, which also included the already-completed improvements to the south end zone, the locker room and other team facilities. The new scoreboard will be 38 feet high and 62 feet wide more than three times bigger than the current one.

“Like everything else we’ve done, it’s a fan enhancement,” Castiglione said. “We knew as part of the original stadium master plan we would replace the north video board with a larger video screen. It is a size not just three times larger, but, to give perspective, it provides a similar viewing experience for video and replays like the video board in the south end.”

 

Source: oudaily.com

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