Tupelo High to begin baseball stadium renovations
Tupelo High School will be renovating its baseball stadium. The news was announced via Facebook on Tuesday.
Charles Laney, the Executive Director of Operations for the Tupelo Public School District, is ready to get going on a project that’s been in the works for a while.
“This project has been about four years in the making,” he said. “The board setting money aside for this project over the years, and then kind of the planning and developing with the booster clubs committee, (athletics director) Jason Miller getting feedback on and going from there. So from there, the concept grew.”
The renovations will include a new press box, grandstands, outfield wall, parking lot and landscaping. They will also include “one of the largest video scoreboards for high school baseball in the state."
The grandstands will hold between 500-600 people once completed and be closer to field level. The press box will be moved back from its current spot as a result.
“The design concept is bringing it closer to the field so you kind of get a more of a live action feel of the game there,” Laney said. “And then creating some dining spaces and also a student lounge area like you see similar at Mississippi State, Ole Miss for the students to hang out.”
Once contracts are approved, the project will begin some time in the next couple of weeks.
Laney is most excited for being able to improve where Tupelo students spend their time.
“Anything that we can do to help our students be able to either improve their learning environment or sporting event,” he said. “It is great to see momentum and such great anticipation at the beginning of this project.”
Miller, meanwhile, is eager to improve the game day atmosphere through the renovations.
“People are still gonna have their own area, but they're kind of right on top of the action,” he said. “That makes for a great game day atmosphere for the patrons that come in and also for the athletes that are participating in the event.”
This will be the first major renovation done to the stadium in 15 years. Minor renovations have been made periodically in that span. These renovations will be done by M&N Construction.
