North Stadium Improvement Project Progress Report

Lincoln -- The Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center is scheduled to be completed in February, 2005 and ready for use for winter conditioning and spring football.  However, the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex, will not be completed until the fall of 2006.  The additional seats in Memorial Stadium (6,000-plus, bringing the stadium capacity to 80,000) will also be ready for the fall of 2006.  The different completion dates presents some challenges to the builders, for instance, in order to be ready to utilize the Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center on Feb. 1, 2005, the following systems must be active, including fire alarm, heat, power and a form of emergency lighting.

Sound System in Indoor Fieldhouse
Speakers in the Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center will be capable of playing music or crowd noise on one end of the field or the other or both at the same time.  Individual sound systems shall be provided in the soccer locker room, visitor’s locker room, the aerobic exercise room and the indoor practice field. The PA system is to be fed from the media matrix located on the sixth floor of West Stadium.  We will use wireless microphones for the Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center.  A permanent projection system is not required for the Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center. A portable system will be used.

Sprint Lanes
Rather than test athletes on the field turf as we have done in the Cook Pavilion, a Mondo track surface similar to the outdoor track will be installed on the east and west sides of the Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center in the indoor fieldhouse. Two 48" wide lanes are to be provided on each side. Cameras are to be provided at each end (north and south) of the Championship Howard and Rhonda Hawks Championship Center recessed in the wall at ground level and aligned with the east track to record the start and finish of each run. A portable camera will be set up to record the start from the side view. Randy Gobel, Assistant Facilities Operations Director, will work with Daktronics to design the timing equipment. This will give our athletes the best opportunity to record their fastest times.

Dust Monitors
Sampson Construction is monitoring the dust as they finish demolition of the North Fieldhouse. Water trucks are spraying the area as needed to keep the dust at an acceptable level. The northern portion of the fieldhouse has been removed and it will be two or three more weeks to finish removing the south portion. The rain has helped keep the dust problem to a minimum but the rain has caused problems with earth work on the indoor fieldhouse.