LORMAN &045; After taking over the position on a full-time basis two years ago, Alcorn athletic director Robert Raines started working.

That was just the point where he had the term ‘interim’ removed from his title. Since then the Natchez native has helped coordinate efforts to launch an overhaul of the athletic facilities and other amenities within the program &045; ranging from renovations to the Whitney Complex and a new surface at Jack Spinks Stadium to enhancing the athletics Web site &045; in a quest to continue to push forward with Alcorn athletics.

Some work has begun, including work on the baseball field, and other projects may begin as soon as this summer. Other work includes improvements to the softball facility, additions at the tennis courts and expanding the Office of Sports Information.

&uot;It’s very ambitious,&uot; Raines said. &uot;A lot of it is long overdue. I’m really pleased with the way athletics are going with our students graduating and our overall programs. The last two years we’ve been second in the Commissioner’s Cup. When you have that type of student-athletes coming here, you’ve got to do things to continue to attract them and continue what we have and stay where we are.&uot;

The biggest goal for other sports is to enhance their revenue-making ability. Phase 1 of the baseball facility is complete with a new fence and lighting, and other work will follow. Additions in softball and tennis will also help in each program’s ability to create revenue.

When it comes to college sports, revenue &045; or lack thereof &045; can define your success.

&uot;Right now football and basketball are the only revenue-generating sports we have,&uot; Raines said. &uot;It’s our intent to make baseball and softball be more revenue-generating. Improving the facilities will allow you to be able to charge for those games. If they don’t make any money, that money has to come from somewhere. We want them to be self-supporting.&uot;

Additional state funding is available for the projects, and state Rep. Philip West has worked with Alcorn on improvements to the baseball facility. The new surface of the football stadium, Raines noted, will be solely funded through private donations.

Whitney Complex

Raines pointed out it may not be hard to picture what the Whitney Complex looked like when it first opened in 1974.

Very little has changed since.

What was a modern facility then has seen some wear in 30 years with its wooden bleachers inside the gym and lack of facilities downstairs. The first phase of renovation will include additions of visitors dressing rooms and showers at the lower level and adding a sports medicine facility there.

&uot;Everything in here is original,&uot; Raines said. &uot;It’s really due for a major renovation. This has been an ongoing effort, but funds have been allocated to us for this. We’ll add some additional dressing rooms for not only visiting teams but for additional sports. We’ve added a lot of sports since the building was built.&uot;

The second phase will include the arena and replacing the wooden bleachers on the lower level. The plan calls for chair-back seats to replace the worn wooden bleachers, and the plan may call for a cup-type design in the corners in an attempt to save as many seats as possible.

&uot;It is 30-year-old, bleacher-type seating,&uot; Raines said. &uot;It has outlived its usefulness. We want to have something better, something we can move easily back and forth and something that is going to be more comfortable for our fans. My idea was to have a bowl in the corners, and that’s another option to offset the loss of seats. We’ll definitely lose some seats.&uot;

The building is also home to the sports information office, a department that is on the list to get upgraded as well. Currently sports information director Tyrone Broxton works out of a small office within the department, but Raines said he’d like to see the office expanded to further publicize the department.

Part of that includes moving to a new Web site and offering Maxview on the site where fans who live outside of the area can buy season tickets and watch games televised over the Internet.

&uot;We want to improve our publications and getting name and word Alcorn out,&uot; Raines said. &uot;We want to get our name out a little more broader than we have been. We’re moving forward with that.&uot;

Jacks Spinks Stadium

When officials at Southeastern Louisiana resurrected football, with it came a new surface at old Strawberry Stadium. Out went the grass surface and in came the new, modernized sprint turf &045; the improved artificial turf that’s more comfortable than the Astroturf that became popular in the early 1980s.

Raines visited and liked the feel to it. The Braves have never played on it, but they’ll get a chance this fall when they play at SLU and get a better idea of how this could enhance ASU’s Jack Spinks Stadium.

The cost would be around $50,000, and private investors are working with ASU to get that funded outright or over a 10-year period.

&uot;We don’t have a tremendous staff like most larger institutions for maintenance staff that work on the field all year,&uot; Raines said. &uot;We’ve had to contract that out annually, and we’re not satisfied with the condition our field is in. This astro-play surface will last you 10-15 years and be virtually maintenance free. If you look at the amount you spend on it annually and multiply it times 10, it pays for itself.&uot;

SLU athletic director Frank Pergolizzi said it may look and feel like the real thing but it’s even better &045; you don’t have to cut it. It’s the same surface many professional teams are installing, the same one the New Orleans Saints put in during the 2003 season.

&uot;It’s better than the real thing,&uot; Pergolizzi said. &uot;You don’t have to cut it, you don’t have to line it and you don’t have to worry about mud. It was exactly what they told us it would cost. We knew we’d spend on a conservative side $50,000 a year to take care of the field. We don’t have to worry about any of that, and the money we save will go toward paying for the turf.&uot;

Maintenance crews at Jack Spinks put down sand in spots last year to even it out, and it got so bad in some areas &uot;it looks like a beach,&uot; Raines said. Fortunately, the field dodged any inclement weather during games last season, but this new sprint turf would make that a non-factor.

&uot;That would be great for the program and great for all different types of weather, especially if it’s raining,&uot; ASU head coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;We can still work on it and practice on it without damaging the field during the week.&uot;

The surface would also allow the stadium to be the home of the fledgling women’s soccer program that began last fall. Currently the Lady Braves have no home field and had to play home games last season in Brookhaven in their first season.

&uot;You have everything you need for the stadium and wouldn’t have to build the facility,&uot; Raines said. &uot;Everything is already set up.&uot;

Other sports

The aging baseball facility was the first to undergo construction back in the fall with new fencing and lights for night games. Plans are to build a grandstand to seat about 1,000 spectators and furnish concession stands and dressing facilities for both teams.

Of any facility on the campus, the baseball field may be the most overdue. Construction, however, was to continue this spring, but organizers opted to wait until the end of the season instead of building around home games.

&uot;I went to school here, and while it was a long time ago, that was the baseball field then,&uot;

Raines said. &uot;I’m sure it’s been here 100 years before that. It’s definitely long overdue. I think we’re just going to wait until the season is over to go into the next phase. It’s only a few more months.&uot;

The flip side of that project, meanwhile, is to upgrade the women’s softball facility as per Title IX regulations. The Lady Braves currently play at a field adjacent to the Whitney Complex, one that was converted to meet the minimal needs when the program began some 10 years ago.

&uot;That started out as a recreational field,&uot; Raines said. &uot;We came back and put in a shorter fence and tried to make it available for competition, but it’s still sorely lacking. It’ll be something comparable to what we do with baseball. It’s our intent to get bring softball up to par.

&uot;It needs the whole kit and kaboodle. The only thing in place is the ground itself. I don’t call it a renovation project &045; I call that a construction project.&uot;