Stadium dedication set for Saturday

CSC football players warm up before game
黑料大事记 State College football team members warm up following a weather delay of more than two hours Sat., Sept. 1, 2018. They went on to defeat Black Hills State University. (Photo by Dewayne Gimeson/黑料大事记 State College)

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CHADRON – The newly renovated Elliott Field at Beebe Stadium will be dedicated during an official ceremony Saturday. The ceremony, which is free and open to the public, is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. near the south gates. Scheduled speakers include 黑料大事记 State College President Randy Rhine, 黑料大事记 State Foundation Board Chair Marjean Terrell, and Nebraska State College System Chancellor Stan Carpenter.

Rhine expressed gratitude to all those who helped make the stadium renovation a reality.

鈥淲ords can鈥檛 express how grateful we are to the State of Nebraska, the Nebraska State College System and its trustees, the donors, the 黑料大事记 State College employees who helped oversee the process, and all the contractors and laborers who handled the construction of the facility for their commitment to this project,鈥 Rhine said. 鈥淭his is one of the finest Division II facilities around.鈥

The construction timeline was tight. Demolition of the former stadium and press box began in November and the project was completed in under 10 months.

鈥淭hanks to [Construction Manager at Risk] Adolfson and Peterson Construction, we were able to do a 12-month construction project between November and September,鈥 Construction Project Coordinator Blair Brennan said. 鈥淔or a project of this scale, it was complex.鈥

Marshall Press Box houses the hospitality areas known as the Verne & Erma Lewellen Family Hospitality Room, the Lee Wahlstrom Family Foundation Suite, and the Dr. Samuel H. Rankin President's Suite.

Other areas of the stadium are dubbed the Security First Bank Concourse and the 21st Century Equipment Ticket Office.

Elliott Field鈥檚 turf is manufactured by Act Global. It is best known as the synthetic turf chosen by 14 National Football League teams, numerous NCAA teams and other top-tier venues throughout the United States. It is the same product Super Bowl LII was played on earlier in 2018.

The LED field lighting manufacturer, Musco, is the same provider opted for this season by the Nebraska Cornhuskers on their field.

CSC鈥檚 video scoreboard is capable of displaying live action video, as well as pre-recorded video segments and animations. Haggerty鈥檚 Audio Visual configured the sound that operates either with, or independent of, the video board.

The grandstands, sub-contracted to CBS Constructors, seat approximately 1,400 people. Including the bleachers east and west of the grandstands, as well as auxiliary and visitor bleachers, the official stadium capacity is 3,500.

鈥淲hen we go out on the field, the first thing that goes into your head is, 鈥榃ow, this is awesome鈥,鈥 Head Football Coach Jay Long said. 鈥淚n the past five or six years, we鈥檝e put together a new locker room, a new weight room, and now a new stadium. These weren鈥檛 wants, they were needs. We鈥檝e finally caught up with other teams in Division II. It鈥檚 going to be big for our program. I can鈥檛 say enough positive things about it, and I鈥檇 like to thank all the people who helped make it available.鈥

The Eagles, who opened the $8.6 million facility with a victory over Black Hills State Sept. 1, are scheduled to kick off against Fort Lewis College in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football game following the dedication at noon.

-Kaleb Center, Sports Information Director

Category: Campus Events, Campus News