The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees picked a company to install new scoreboards -- as well as video and audio systems -- in War Memorial Stadium and the UniWyo Sports Complex.

The board in its Wednesday meeting authorized a $3.5 million contract with Newark, NJ-based Panasonic Enterprise Solutions for the work, slated for this summer. Trustees also approved the exterior design of the Mick and Susie McMurry High Altitude Performance Center.

The existing video board at the north end of War Memorial Stadium will be removed as the Rochelle Athletics Center is expanded into the Mick and Susie McMurry High Altitude Performance Center. A new video board, measuring roughly 38 feet high and 84 feet wide, will be installed in the south end zone.

War Memorial will also receive 3- by 30-foot ribbon boards at each of the stadium’s four corners on the fascia of the east and west grandstands. A new audio system is set to be installed as well.

The existing video board on the north wall of the UniWyo Sports Complex will be replaced by a 9- by 18-foot board. The facility, which houses UW’s volleyball and wrestling programs, will also receive a new scoreboard on the south wall.

The UW administration has provided a no-interest loan to fund the project. The UW Department of Athletics will pay back the loan over 10 years.

The project will cost $44 million, funded through $24 million in private donations and another $20 million in matching dollars from the state. Construction is set to begin later this year, with GE Johnson Construction of Jackson as the construction manager at risk.

The 78,100-square-foot addition will nearly triple the size of the Rochelle Athletics Center, currently at 48,100 square feet. The exterior was designed to comply with UW’s Historic Preservation Plan that aims to uphold UW’s tradition of classical architecture.

The facility will include new and renovated spaces as part of the UW Department of Athletics strategic plan. The academic and sports medicine centers will be expanded; a new weight room and locker room – as well as new meeting rooms and office space – will be added for the football program. The Mick and Susie McMurry High Altitude Performance Center will also include a training table to meet the nutritional demand of UW student-athletes.

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