RUSTON, La. (11/21/19) Louisiana Tech is excited to announce they are moving forward with upgrading their sports complex. This comes after the deadly tornado that hit Ruston back in April. While much of the school suffered some form of damage, the sports complex was hit the hardest.

“We’re devastated that it happened but we’re looking at this as an opportunity to move forward” says Tommy McClelland, Louisiana Tech’s Director of Athletics.

The new fields will be back bigger and better than ever before, offering state of the art amenities that will enhance the experience for faculty and student athletes.

“It’s a total upgrade, we got locker rooms, coaches offices, equipment rooms, laundry rooms, team meeting rooms, a players lounge” McClelland said.

There has been talk in the past regarding potentially moving some of the locations of the fields. The rebuild is providing the school the opportunity to take it.

“We made the decision through communication with the president and the university that we’re going to leave baseball where it was and move softball and soccer” McClelland said.

They’re also finding ways to enhance the experience for fans by taking the original plots of land and turning them into additional parking. In addition, they’re going to expand pedestrian traffic options to increase accessibility, as well as to further connect with Ruston.

“There will be another opportunity through another project that is going on with autonomous vehicle, bike path and walking path that will connect a new parking lot to downtown” McClelland said.

Student athletes who have been through all of the changes since day one are thankful the school is going above and beyond to restore normalcy to Tech.

“It’s a relief, you know, seeing all of the damage it did, having plans put forth and seeing them in action, getting started on the demolition of the baseball stadium, softball and soccer. It just gives me a sense of hope, and something to look forward to in the years to come” says Taylor Young, a baseball player with Louisiana Tech.

At this time the total cost of the renovations are unknown, but they’re planning on paying with it through FEMA reimbursement, insurance, state appropriation and philanthropy. Construction is currently underway and the goal is to have everything completed by the time each season begins.