Construction is now underway at the UNI-Dome and McLeod Center to upgrade the scoreboard and video systems of both arenas. UNI Assistant Athletics Director for Facilities & Operations Brooke Croshier-Sidebotham says the changes include some new equipment and a change in location for one video board.
She says there is now a video board in the UNI-Dome’s southeast corner that will be moved to the north side, and there will be a new scoreboard — that’s roughly 100 feet wide by 26 feet high — that will be installed on the south side. A new video board that is bigger will also be installed in the McLeod Center.
Croshier-Sidebotham says that in the UNI-Dome, fans will see a very noticeable difference in the resolution of the new video board. She says the scoreboard is about twice the size of what’s there now and “it’ll be like watching a big screen TV.”
Both Iowa and Iowa State have upgraded the scoreboards and video systems at their football stadiums in recent years, and Croshier-Sidebotham acknowledges that keeping up with other schools is a factor in UNI’s decision to make their own changes. “I think it’s been something that they wanted to do for awhile. We’ve been look at some options and it just fell at the right time,” Croshier-Sidebotham.
The price tag for all of the upgrades is around 1.3 million dollars. Construction is expected to be finished next month, with all systems operational by August 1. UNI first added a video board to the UNI-Dome in 2002, with an upgrade in 2008. The scoreboards that are being replace were originally installed in 1986.
(Reporting by Jesse Gavin KCNZ Cedar Falls)