MSU offers ‘draft’ images of new football locker room

New football locker rooms inside Missouri State University’s McDonald Hall and Arena are currently being designed.

Images of what the renovated spaces may look like were recently shared with the MSU Board of Governors.

Mark Wheeler, university architect and director of planning, design and construction, shared two images – clearly marked as drafts – with the board, just to provide insight on the general direction.

“These are not the final images,” he said in the May 7 committee meeting. “The project will change between now and when we bid in August.”

A proposal to move forward with the project is slated to go before the board in September.

The draft image of the locker room included an exposed black ceiling, large MSU bear logo, images of players on the walls and lockers with players’ faces, names and numbers.

Wheeler said Casey Woods, head football coach, wants to pay homage to the existing building. The goal is to integrate historical elements, including a fireplace, as a focal point in the design.

“We are keeping the fireplace currently. Coach Woods would like to have that,” he said. “We’re looking at how that gets implemented into the fabric and architecture.”

The other draft image was of a fully equipped weight room.

In late February, the board voted to spend up to $1.4 million to hire Cannon Design Inc., based in Buffalo, New York with offices in St. Louis, to come up with a plan to renovate the first-floor court and east wing of the arena for a locker room, weight room, equipment room and athletic training facility.

The university has been working to raise $8 million in donor funds for the locker rooms and noted up to $10 million in additional funds – to be raised privately – may be needed for the additional spaces:

● 8,000-square-foot weight room

● 3,000-square-foot training area

● 2,200-square-foot equipment, storage and laundry area

● Reconnection of tunnel linking McDonald Arena and Plaster Stadium

Wheeler said the request that goes to the board in September will depend on the budget available.

He said the university is “extremely excited about all this in the heart of campus and to really have a home for football operations.”

MSU currently has 157 active projects on campus – worth $205 million – that are due to be completed in time for homecoming, which is Nov. 14.

Matt Morris, vice president for administrative services, said the board will be invited to participate in a tour of major campus projects during an August retreat.

“We are so busy on the construction side, and there are so many jobs that we’re excited to show you,” he said.

The tour will include Clifton M. Smart III University Advancement Center, Cheek Hall, Craig Hall, Judith Enyeart Reynolds Performing Arts Center and Roy Blunt Hall.

The university has been working on targeted renovations inside Carrington Hall. It budgeted $820,000 to update the financial services space on the first floor, which is complete, and is working on three spaces on the third and fourth floor to accommodate marketing and communications staff.

The $190,000 project, to be completed by campus crews this summer, is needed for the team to move out of the former Kenneth E. Meyer Alumni Center, which was sold to Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc. MSU has continued to lease space in that building until the advancement center is complete.

“This is part of the relocation for the alumni center,” Wheeler said. “This will be really the last domino to fall when we complete the advancement center a little bit later this fall.”