BATON ROUGE — One of the greatest collegiate softball programs of the last decade will move one step closer to a new era as the LSU softball team breaks ground on Tuesday at the construction site of the new Tiger Park.
The ground breaking will take place at the site of the new stadium at 11 a.m., followed by lunch in the LSU Athletics Department conference room located on the fifth floor of the Athletic Administration Building at approximately 11:30 a.m. A press conference is scheduled for noon in the conference room to discuss the project.
The new stadium will be located on Skip Bertman Drive, across from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine and adjacent to the LSU Women’s Soccer Complex. The stadium is expected to be completed in time for the Tigers to play their first game in the new facility in the spring of 2009.
The new Tiger Park will feature 1,289 seats? including 587 chair-back seats? and the capability of accommodating 1,200 more fans on an outfield berm. The softball stadium will also feature first-class team facilities, including a locker room, team lounge, meeting facility, training facility, equipment room, indoor batting cages and umpire locker rooms.
All seats in the New Tiger Park will be angled toward the playing field, and the facility will include an open concourse with concessions areas and video monitors. Press facilities and private suites will be included in the new stadium, plus enhanced lighting for night and televised games.
The stadium will also be designed to allow for future expansion. The berm/earthwork package was completed in 2006 and has been settling in preparation for construction.
You can join in the success of the project by following the construction phases of the stadium and making an online contribution by accessing www.MakeYourPitch.net/tigerpark, the official web site of the new Tiger softball stadium.