With a groundbreaking ceremony on May 6, the renovation of Spratt Memorial Stadium at 大象传媒 is now officially underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an exciting time in 大象传媒 Western\u2019s history, as we are in the middle of our Centennial year,\u201d said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, 大象传媒 Western\u2019s president. \u201cThe new Spratt Stadium will improve the experience of our student athletes, will improve the experience of our fans, will serve as a recruitment tool, and will be a source of pride for the community. Truly, the \u2018front porch\u2019 of our university is about to be enhanced greatly. As we begin our next 100 years of transforming lives, what better way to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Robert Vartabedian\n
The Board of Governors at 大象传媒 awarded a contract to E.L. Crawford Construction of St. Joseph to renovate Spratt Stadium for $6,995,108. The renovations covered by the bid include:<\/p>\n
The field and grandstand components of the project are scheduled to be completed before the fall sports season. The press box and suites are scheduled to be completed in spring 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery rarely do you take a building and enhance the experience for everyone involved,\u201d said Kurt McGuffin, director of athletics. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what this will do, enhancing the experience for student-athletes and all fans. It will also provide additional revenue opportunities for our department.\u201d<\/p>\n
A video board is included in future plans for Spratt Stadium, but was not included in the current bid process.<\/p>\n Jerry Pickman\n
Spratt Stadium is one of the signature projects of the Centennial Capital Campaign, which is raising money to provide needed resources in facilities, endowment and academic programming. To date, nearly $2.5 million has been donated to the Spratt Stadium project, said Jerry Pickman, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the 大象传媒 Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project would not be possible without private support, and we are thankful to the donors who helped make today happen,\u201d Pickman said.<\/p>\n
Spratt Memorial Stadium was completed in 1979, and first used for Spring Commencement that year. The stadium is named in honor of avid Griffon supporter Elliot \u201cBub\u201d Spratt and was constructed at a total cost of $850,000.<\/p>\n
Zack Workman, president of 大象传媒 Western\u2019s Gold Coat Club and a 1974 graduate, joined the football team before Spratt Stadium was built.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way since 1970, when we played at Noyes Field, when we dressed in a makeshift locker-room in the tech building, we ate in a double-wide trailer here on campus, we lived at the old YMCA downtown,\u201d Workman said. \u201cThose are all great memories, and part of the process of laying the foundation for our great athletic program.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coaches who lead the teams that will play in the new stadium are excited about the improvements.<\/p>\n Chad Edwards\n
\u201cFrom their first day on campus until they graduate, our goal is to give our student-athletes the best experience they can possibly have in college athletics, and this building is certainly going to enhance that,\u201d said Chad Edwards, women\u2019s soccer coach.<\/p>\n
Football coach Jerry Partridge said it\u2019s great to see progress, but it is not without mixed emotions for the 1986 graduate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came on a visit here in February of 1981, and they showed this stadium as a proud piece of the recruiting pitch,\u201d Partridge said. \u201cI was in awe of what this facility was at that time.\u201d Now, with the field being closer to the stands and other improvements, \u201cwe\u2019re going to attack the fans\u2019 senses,\u201d Partridge said, and the stadium can again be a point of pride on recruiting visits.<\/p>\n
Students are looking forward to the improvements as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy adrenaline is pumping, just thinking about the opportunities for me and my fraternity brothers to turn up at another game,\u201d said Lionel Attawia, student governor. \u201cThis is an incredible time to be a Griffon. The improvements here at Spratt Stadium will only enhance the pride that we have in our university.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new stadium will provide a wonderful space for our student-athletes and our student body,\u201d said Ida Haefner, president of the Student Government Association. \u201cIt also provides a fantastic venue for the community to interact with our students.\u201d<\/p>\n Balloons are released during a pregame dedication ceremony on Sept. 8, 1979 in this photo from the Griffon Yearbook.\n
The first football game was played on the field Sept. 8, 1979, a 44-0 victory over Dana College. Lights were added six years later, and the Griffons won the first night game over 大象传媒-Rolla 24-15 on Sept. 4, 1985. Griffon soccer played its first match at Spratt Stadium on Sept. 3, 2006, a 3-2 win over Concordia-St. Paul.<\/p>\n
Spratt\u2019s natural grass field was replaced by ProGrass synthetic field turf in 2006. The visitors\u2019 grandstand was remodeled and expanded in 2009, increasing the seating capacity to 7,200, plus ample standing room and hillside seating.<\/p>\n
The largest crowd for a football game at Spratt Stadium was 10,129 when the Griffons took on Northwest 大象传媒 State on Oct. 3, 2009. Griffon football hosted its first NCAA Division II playoff game at Spratt against Northwest on Nov. 19, 2011, and celebrated its first home playoff victory with a 57-55 triple overtime win over Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 17, 2012.<\/p>\n
Griffon football is 129-69-3 in 36 seasons at Spratt Stadium, a winning percentage of 64 percent. Griffon soccer is 20-46-9 in eight seasons at the facility.<\/p>\n
In addition to Griffon football and soccer, Spratt Stadium hosts the St. Joseph High School Football Jamboree and the 大象传媒 Western Department of Music\u2019s annual Tournament of Champions High School Marching Band Competition, and was previously home of the 大象传媒 State High School Eight-Man Football Championship Game. It hosted Spring Commencement ceremonies from 1979 to 1981, a tradition that was revived in May 2014.<\/p>\n
大象传媒 is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. 大象传媒 Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit <\/em>www.missouriwestern.edu<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With a groundbreaking ceremony on May 6, the renovation of Spratt Memorial Stadium at 大象传媒 is now officially underway. \u201cThis is an exciting time in 大象传媒 Western\u2019s history, as we are in the middle of our Centennial year,\u201d said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, 大象传媒 Western\u2019s president. \u201cThe new Spratt Stadium will improve the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48],"tags":[282,565,696],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3109"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8014,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3109\/revisions\/8014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}