Posted by SpaceRaider on 2/4/2006, 8:51 am Drawings for a new $5 million, 3,000-seat home for MT baseball were unveiled Thursday at the annual Groundhog Day Luncheon. "We will get it done," said MT President Sidney McPhee. "This will be a communitywide investment that will reap benefit benefits for years to come." The city of Murfreesboro made a $5.5 million contribution to the university in September to help upgrade facilities needed for the TSSAA Spring Fling. The high school baseball and track and field championships will be held on campus. The money will be split between the two facilities. McPhee said he now expects about $1.5 million of the city contribution to go for the baseball facility. "We'll make up the difference with our capital campaign," he said. That campaign got a major boosts Thursday. Steve Smith, a former Blue Raider pitcher who will head up the campaign, presented Blue raider head baseball coach Steve Peterson a check for $300,000. Dewon Brazelton, another former Blue Raider pitcher who now pitches for the San Diego Padres, got into the act with a check for $250,000. Local developer and university supporter Howard Wall tossed in a check for $100,000, while Peterson and his wife, Rita, made a $10,000 donation. After the luncheon, an anonymous donor handed athletics director Chris Massaro a pledge card for $100,000. "We won't raise $760,000 every day, but it's a thrilling start," Massaro said. "We like every gift, but it's extra special when former players want to give back to the university. I think it shows a deep love for the people who build this program." Current plans are to start work on the new stadium after the final out of the 2007 Spring Fling and the first pitch to come the following spring. "We should have the majority of the money raised by the first quarter of '07," Smith said. "By Groundhog Day next year I hope we'll be finalizing the colors for the new restrooms. We're going to have a great project." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dream becoming a reality for MT's Peterson During the annual Groundhog Day Luncheon at James Union, MT head baseball coach Steve Peterson revealed plans for a new 3,000 seat grandstand to serve Reese Smith Field. "We will be in this stadium for the first pitch of 2008," Peterson said. "This has been a goal of mine for a long time." Peterson begins his 19th season leading the Blue Raiders with the first pitch of the 2006 season on Feb. 18. Upgrading facilities has been important to the program the entire time. "I was going through my desk the other day and found a little drawing I had done in 1991, so the dream started a long time ago," he said. "In 2001, I came to (Groundhog Day) with the first dream. What happened then was the plans never got bigger than my office." The big push came last year when the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and the city of Murfreesboro made a major push to attract Spring Fling to the city. The TSSAA decided to bring its package of spring sports championships to the city and venues at the university will be used. In September Murfreesboro made a $5.5 million contribution to help with facility improvements. About $1.5 million of that will go to the new baseball facility. "When our elected officials got on board, this project got bigger than my office," Peterson said. The university is committed to raising the balance of the money to make the renovation a reality. Former Blue Raider pitcher Dewon Brazelton started the game with a $250,000 contribution. Steve Smith, another former Blue Raider pitcher, came out of the bullpen with a check for $300,000. Howard and Sally Wall and an anonymous donor both pitched in with $100,000 donations and Peterson threw in a check for $10,000 on behalf of his wife, Rita, and himself. "(Coach Peterson) is old school," Brazelton said. "He doesn't need the glitz to recruit. It certainly didn't make any difference to me that we didn't have it. But I know guys who like the glitz and glamor and made decisions because of it. If you're are someone that's attracted to it, he'll have all his bases covered." Peterson knows what he wants to do with Brazelton's contribution: It will pay for the Dewon Brazelton Alumni Skybox in the new ballpark. "I always want our alumni to be able to come back and feel like they're still part of the program," he said. "This skybox will be somewhere every card-carrying Blue Raider will be able to come and be welcome." Smith will be chairman of the capital campaign to raise the university's share of the renovation cost. "When we raised $80,000 for lights, we had the only lighted college baseball field in Tennessee," he said. "Now 20 years have passed and we are behind. ... We are going to have a facility unequaled in Tennessee. ... We want to compete at the highest level. I don't give a damn about a Sun Belt Conference championship. I want to go to Omaha (for the College World Series). That's where this stadium will get us. We're over halfway there. We need to get this done." The new ballpark will be considerably more than skyboxes. Two architectural firms are working together on the project. "We're at the beginning right now with programming and schematics," said Brian Tibbs of Moody Nolan Inc., one of the two firms. "The plan will get tweaked as we get into the nuts and bolts." An important part of the project from the very first discussions has been a plaza area which will replace the Faulkenberry Street parking lot beside Reese Smith Field. "We've really emphasized the plaza in our discussions to date," he said. "The idea is to have an area to make every game an event. We believe this state of the arty facility will enhance the stature of Blue Raider athletics all over the nation."
69.138.57.76
Plans for ballpark unveiled
McPhee describes facility as community investment
By JOHN CALLOW
By JOHN CALLOW
Despite rain that canceled practice Thursday, the sun was shining bright on the MT baseball program.
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