Marshall University Outlines Plan for New Facilities (Huntington, Barboursville: 2015, cost)

[aeros71]

I drove past the new soccer complex yesterday evening, Thursday May 9th. It appears that the complex plans have changed since the original artist renderings were released to the public.

For one, the locker room building runs parallel to 5th Avenue and in the original plans, that building was running north/south through the middle of the property. With that said, from the look of the pictures and the orientation of the building and the light towers, the field will now run east/west, parallel to 5th avenue instead of north/south like it was shown in the artist renderings. I guess I had missed the announcement from back in the fall that the plans had changed. Below I have put the original and updated artist renderings.

Here was the original artists renderings:



Here is the new rendering:

[elewis7]

Much better idea, IMO. With the stands parallel with 5th, it increases the exposure of the main building as well as creating a unique view from the porches on 4th. The entrance is a bit farther away from the parking lot, but the soccer ball plaza is a nice tie-together.

[aeros71]

I wonder if MU will leave the fences that run along 4th avenue open so that people can see through them or if they will put up some sort of covering.

[tbailey1138]

I would imagina the fence would stay up without coverings, kind of like the field by the rec center. If no other reason, it would likely be because it's cheaper not to. They can always go back and add something later.

[PynballWyzyrd]

It looks like the final result shows the stands as being smaller. Hmm I suppose there is room for more stands to be added if it's needed.

[aeros71]

Marshall did install decorative coverings made up of a mesh like material around Sam Hood Field. The coverings had the MU soccer logo along with other designs in Green, White and Black. I have a feeling they are going to do the same at the new field, in an attempt to create a certain atmosphere for the field.

[PynballWyzyrd]

Ahh good point. They will probably have some advertisements there as well. What of score board is it suppose to have? Just a normal scoreboard or a possibly a jumbotron-esk scoreboard (though I feel like that may be a little flamboyant)?

[aeros71]

Good question. I haven't heard any news about what type of scoreboard.

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by aeros71

Marshall did install decorative coverings made up of a mesh like material around Sam Hood Field. The coverings had the MU soccer logo along with other designs in Green, White and Black. I have a feeling they are going to do the same at the new field, in an attempt to create a certain atmosphere for the field.

I didn't know that. If they already had them, they may try to just reuse them.

I haven't heard anything about the scoreboard either. Drove by today and it looked like they had the supports up for it on the north side of the field though.

[aeros71]

As Pynball pointed out, the fence coverings could also be used for advertising. In fact, I fully expect to see many advertisements at the soccer complex.