Plans advance for new facility

My first trip to South Dakota was an interesting one, except for the football game which I am trying hard to forget.

South Dakota State has a very good football team, not as good as Youngstown State made them look, but the Jackrabbits are definitely a top 25 team in the Football Championship Subdivision.

But just about everything else at South Dakota State is still in the Division II mode, including their football facilities.

Couglin-Alumni Stadium is definitely still Division II quality. The stadium’s capacity is supposedly 15,000, but other than the home stands, the rest of the seating is all open-backed bleachers, scattered here and there.

The Jackrabbits do have a state-of-the-art scoreboard which was provided a couple of years ago by Daktronics, which has its home base in Brookings, S.D., but that’s the extent of it.

Their press box is like a high school’s, and there are many high school stadiums in our area which have better facilities.

Upgrades, new facilities on the planning board

While we’re on the subject of facilities, I had plenty of time to sit down with YSU athletic director Ron Strollo over the weekend to discuss some of the things going on with the Penguins’ facilities.

YSU is on the opposite end of facilities from South Dakota State. The Penguins have one of the finest facilities in the FCS and according to Strollo things are going to get better.

Our main topic of discussion Saturday was concerning the new indoor practice facility, which is still in the discussion stage, but is also still moving forward, according to Strollo.

“We’re going through a quiet stage right now with our fund raising,” Strollo said. “Obviously we had a major announcement last week with the $750,000 donation from Edward DeBartolo Jr. We also went out this summer and hired a consultant to help us develop a program statement, which is basically what we want to build.

“We’re hoping that we’ll have some preliminary drawings of the new facility ready shortly and we are also involved in a study to find the best location for the facility and we have several options there presently,” Strollo said.

Strollo went on to tell what the university is looking to have in the new facility.

“We obviously will have a full football field and a complete 300-meter indoor track around it. They will be similar to the tracks at Akron and Kent. We want to be able to use the facility for baseball and softball as well as soccer and golf,” he added.

New facility planned for many programs

He said the surface of the football field will be the same as the surface at Stambaugh Stadium.

“Obviously we want to make sure it is for multi use, we’re going to do everything to make it usable to all facets of the university and to outside organizations and high schools that want to use it,” said Strollo.

“There will be some major restroom facilities and some lockers, but it won’t have a locker room area, plus with a facility this size it will have plenty of storage space,” he added.

While nothing has been decided yet as to where the facility will be placed, probably the best area for it would be over the spot where the university’s outdoor track and grass practice field lies.

Although Strollo has made no indication as to the final site, things that will be happening within the next year lead to the facility being built over the outdoor track.

“Within the next year we are going to be moving our hammer and discus throw area out of the [Smoky] Hollow and up along side the present track,” he said. “It will be a state of the art throwing facility.”

Strollo also said that down the road he wants to find an on campus location for the women’s softball field.

“We’ve gotten great use and support from McCune Park, but it is still out in Canfield and we are looking to find a site as quickly as possible,” he said.

Strollo has said $250,000 of the $1.3 million the university received from playing Ohio State the last two seasons has been earmarked for the indoor facility.

Strollo also said the replacement of the chairback seats at Stambaugh Stadium will be done before the 2009 season and he is also looking to replace the playing surface of the stadium within the next couple of years.

XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.