$36 million approved to reconstruct Virginia Tech athletic facilities

On Monday, August 29, Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors approved a $36 million upgrade to various athletic facilities including the baseball facility, English Field, a new hitting facility for softball and to add on to Rector Field House, which is the indoor facility used for indoor track and as a practice facility for football. Construction will begin this fall and be completed by 2018.

Although facilities have been given facelifts over the past decade, people can argue that our baseball, softball and track teams don’t get the recognition they deserve. Compared to Lane Stadium, our baseball facility has only had minor cosmetic upgrades including lights and a turf field. Lane Stadium just recently acquired a new state-of-the-art video board in 2013, yet other facilities don’t have anything to compare. This construction to the baseball field and Field House will provide fans with an optimal experience much like they would get at a Hokie football game. Although football is a huge money generator for Virginia Tech, baseball and track have certainly had better records in the past five years.

The teams deserve the reconstruction of facilities, and fans would be extremely appreciative of the school putting these teams first and making the atmosphere similar to one at Lane. Virginia Tech Athletic staff assure the community that these upgrades will allow the school to compete at higher levels and enrich the entire athletic community. It’s time that other sports get the recognition, and students and community members would be ecstatic to get the same feeling of Hokie Nation at English Field and Rector Field House as they do at Lane Stadium. Go Hokies!