The "biggest video board in college football could be coming to Auburn as soon as this fall," according to James Crepea of the MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER. The Auburn BOT will vote during its Friday meeting "on a proposal to replace the existing south end zone scoreboard at Jordan-Hare Stadium with an approximately 200-foot wide scoreboard that would be in place by August and ready for the upcoming season." While exact dimensions are not listed in the proposal, it is "believed the massive new video board would surpass Texas A&M's 47 by 163 foot video board installed at Kyle Field last year as the biggest in college sports." The project has an "estimated cost" of $13.9M, to be "funded by the university and reimbursed by the athletic department" (MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER, 2/2). Auburn AD Jay Jacobs last week said, "Our scoreboard is past its life expectancy, so we have to do something different in the south end." In Alabama, Alex Byington noted Auburn’s athletic department "put together a feasibility study several months ago to determine improvements that could be made to the 'game day experience at Jordan-Hare Stadium.'" The BOT also will "approve the selection" of 360 Architecture and Montgomery-based Infinity Architecture for the project, as well as Birmingham-based B.L. Harbert Int'l as construction manager. Among other proposals are "improvements to Auburn Arena to accommodate women’s volleyball, including a new training room, locker room and coaches' offices, relocating to the arena from Beard-Eaves Coliseum" (OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS, 2/2). In Birmingham, Brandon Marcello reported further upgrades at the 87,451-seat Jordan-Hare Stadium "could begin as soon as December," with a "completion date prior" to the '17 season. Construction "could also be delayed" until December '16 or December '17 with "completion before" the '18 or '19 seasons (BIRMINGHAM NEWS, 2/2).
