Even though work to Mississippi Valley State's Rice-Totten Stadium won't be complete by the start of next football season, the Delta Devils will be back on campus in Itta Bena for their 2011 home games.
"That will be a welcomed change for us," said MVSU head coach Karl Morgan, whose team played its home games 50 miles away this season at Greenville-Weston High School due to structural damage on the visitors side of Rice-Totten Stadium.
Demolition is scheduled to start in late December for the visitors side of the football stadium, according to an MVSU official.
The renovations will continue during the 2011 football season. However, Rice-Totten Stadium will be available for the team's six home games in 2011. Construction on the new east grandstand is scheduled to begin in February 2011, with final completion slated for early 2012. It will be completed in several phases.
The final costs to renovate the east grandstand has not been finalized because "the stadium bid process is under way and a construction figure is not available due to the scope and complexity of the project," according to an e-mail from MVSU's public relations department.
According to the e-mail, the renovations will be funded by the "state of Mississippi."
For now, the renovation will only include the visitors side, but "renovations/additions/repairs to other portions of the overall stadium complex are being evaluated for future projects."
Key components of the new visitors side design include: 5,000 seats, including a section of chairback seating; storage for track and football equipment; concessions; merchandise vendor stalls and university bookstore stall; restrooms and ticket booths; a facade wall; and two circulation aisles.
The track facilities will remain available for use throughout the entire period of construction.
The renovations do not include the Devils Den or the visiting team's dressing rooms.
"I have seen the sketches, and it's going to be very nice. It will be well worth the wait when it's all said and done," said Morgan, whose team went 0-10 this year.
n Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
