SHSU Athletics, as part of renovations to the Mafrige Field House, will move some of its operations to a new complex located on Ave I in the space vacated by Potato Shack.
The Woodforest National Bank athletic complex, will house athletic offices for select sports, as well as a learning enhancement center for student athletes and storage.
SHSU Athletic Director Bobby Williams is excited to increase the space used for athletes and the growing number of employees working for SHSU athletics.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to expand our square footage for a variety of different areas,” Williams said. “We are very pleased and excited that Woodforest National Bank was able to basically fund it with their donation. We look at it as a great opportunity to expand a lot of different things and in this day in age with all of the facilities that keep staying ahead of the game. We’ve expanded our staff and our student athletes over the years and a lot of our buildings are 20-30 years old, built for those type of sizes and now with 17 sports and 450 student athletes and 100 staff or more, we need more square footage. So, coming down the line that is going to be a big game changer for us.”
Not only does the new facility have space for athletic offices, but potentially centralized operations for the Bearkat Sports Network.
Associate Athletic Director of Media Relations Jason Barfield elaborated on the possibility of adding studio space to the Bearkat Sports Network to meet growing demands.
“In the plans we have right now, we are looking at about a 500-550 square foot studio,” Barfield said. “So, we will be able to do pre-produced programs, interviews. It will open up some opportunities for us to do some other kind of programming that we haven’t had the opportunity to do, whether it’s a weekly show, kind of expand those kinds of things. Ultimately, the goal going forward is to create a centralized control room with what we are doing with ESPN3 and all of our productions, being able to tie all of that back to one central spot. That’s not in the immediate plans, but that’s certainly in as we continue to build out and look at some other opportunities.”
At this time, there is no published timetable for the athletic department to begin use of the Woodforest National Bank athletic complex.
