What's Next For Ole Miss Sports Facilities? Take A Look

Click on the image above to experience the stadium at Swayze Field in 360. Created by Alicia Collins.
The Ole Miss Baseball Stadium will be under construction after the Vanderbilt game in March of 2017. The facility is expected to be available for games in time for the 2018 season.
“They’re knocking down the back wall to our back stop, behind the catcher and they’re gonna bring that up and there’s gonna be more of a suite area there,” said Coach Brett Huber, Coordinator of Operations- External Affairs, “There’ll be TVs in there, open bar, concession stand, lounge area – stuff like that.”
The new additions will cost a total of $20 million.

“We’re gonna build a two-story building. It’s gonna be around 50,00 square feet. So we’re gonna put a brand new locker room in there, brand new team meeting room, brand new players’ lounge; it’s going to have a foosball table, ping-pong table, pool table, TVs, Xbox, Playstation all that stuff, new umpire locker room, new coaches locker room, new pitching indoor, new hitting indoor and a new weight room. It’s gonna be the biggest weight room just for baseball. It’s gonna be 10,000 square feet,” said Huber.
The 2018 baseball season will be played at Swayze, but the project will not be finished. The team will be able to practice on the field in the fall of 2017, but the intra-squad competitions that lead up to the 2018 season will be held at Oxford High School.

Click on the image above to experience the new Track and Field Complex in 360. Created by Scarlett Fox.
Rebel sports fans have much to look forward to in the spring when the Track and Field Complex will host its first meet since its closing in April 2014.
After a drainage issue that caused cavities underneath the track, the Ole Miss Athletics senior staff immediately announced the track’s closing in the middle of the outdoor season.
“When we first learned of the concerns surrounding the track, we first think of safety of our staff and student-athletes,” said Executive Associate Athletics Director Lynnette Johnson. “We knew that more discovery was going to take place to determine the entire extent of the issues, but the decision to shut the track down was easy, safety first.”
While workers were renovating the track, Athletics was renovating the coaching staff. In the summer of 2015, the program announced former Southern Illinois University Head Coach Connie Price-Smith and her coaching staff would be taking over the program. Since entering Ole Miss, Price-Smith was named Head Coach of the Rio 2016 Women’s Olympic team and recently inducted into the Track and Field Hall of Fame.
With a talented freshman class and seasoned veterans, fans can look forward to the debut of the new track’s first home meet and the outdoor season opener at the Joe Walker Invitation on March 24.

Click on the image above to go outside the Pavilion in 360. Created by Ann Robison.
The Pavilion at Ole Miss has now hosted a year of basketball, volleyball and Spirit Squad events. Fans have traveled to Ole Miss events like never before, setting record attendance at Ole Miss Men’s and Women’s Basketball games and at Ole Miss Volleyball matches. 
Marketing Graduate Assistant Tony Daniel works most events inside the Pavilion and has seen the difference from the Tad Pad to the Pavilion first hand.
“The Pavilion has been an incredible asset to Ole Miss Basketball and Ole Miss Athletics as a whole. From recruiting, to fan engagement, to the best game day atmosphere in the SEC, the Pavilion puts the Rebels in a league of their own,” said Daniel.
Here are a few highlights from the Pavilion webpage:

• Opened January 7, 2016
• More than 225,000 total square feet
• Seats approximately 9,500 fans and includes 1,700 premium seats
• Features largest center-hung video display board in college sports with nearly 2,400 square feet of LED
• Concourse highlighted by the C Spire Speedzone, which includes Steak `n Shake, Raising Cane’s, Rebel Locker Room by Lids and a ticket office
• Includes five-story parking garage with more than 800 spaces

Stories contributed by Meek School of Journalism & New Media students Alicia Collins (akcollin@go.olemiss.edu), Scarlett Fox (safox@go.olemiss.edu) and Ann Robison (akrobiso@go.olemiss.edu).