UNIVERSITY'S RECREATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS MOVING AHEAD

Southeast Missouri State University has turned off the lights on the recreation fields project after keeping them on 24 hours a day for about a week.

Testing of the lights was one of the last tasks in construction of the fields on the southwest corner of Sprigg and Bertling.

"That is just to make sure that the fixtures and bulbs don't have any defects in them," said university project manager John O'Malley.

He said the lights also have been checked to see that they don't blind motorists on Sprigg or Bertling. O'Malley said the university has concluded that the bright lights shouldn't cause problems for motorists.

Construction of the fields began in 1997. The project includes an Ohio Valley Conference softball field, two adjacent fields that can be used for soccer and softball, and a concession stand with restrooms and maintenance facilities. The project also includes three parking lots that combined have 212 parking spaces.

O'Malley said the parking lots should eliminate the on-street parking problem that has plagued that area in recent years. People regularly parked on both sides of Sprigg Street when softball or soccer games were held on the university grounds.

"It has always been kind of a hazard to have all that parking on Sprigg," he said.

"The fields will be ready for the spring," said O'Malley. "We are going to keep them closed through this winter."

The goal, he said, is to protect the turf so it can get off to a good start next year.

The fields are just one part of an $8.7 million project at Southeast that includes expansion of the Student Recreation Center, construction of tennis courts, a locker facility, an OVC women's soccer field and replacement of the Abe Stuber track surface.

The single biggest cost is the $5.1 million budgeted for expansion of the Student Recreation Center. Construction of an addition to the center began in late summer. The work is expected to be completed by the start of the 1999 fall semester.

Expansion of the west side of the Recreation Center will accommodate two more basketball courts, a larger weight room, multipurpose rooms for meetings and aerobics, an elevator to access both floors of the two-story structure and a new entrance that will front New Madrid Street.

O'Malley said the two additional basketball courts will provide the center with five courts. The existing courts are used extensively. The university's men's and women's basketball teams practice there when the Show Me Center court isn't available.

About 40 percent of the addition's exterior walls have been built.

The addition will include a large, curved glass wall that will face New Madrid Street.

Besides providing more space, construction is designed to give the center a stronger identity rather than just a connecting structure to the Show Me Center, O'Malley said.

Construction of the OVC soccer field and nine tennis courts on the northwest corner of Sprigg and Bertling should begin this spring, he said.

The project also includes resurfacing the Abe Stuber track and building lockers and offices for the track, softball and soccer teams on the south side of Bertling. The old track house is slated to be razed.

All of this work should be completed in 1999. The university plans to begin playing soccer on the OVC field next fall, O'Malley said.