The press box overlooking Greyhound Field looks mostly the same as it has during past years. The same goes for the JCHS Gymnasium for anyone that has been to any basketball, wrestling or other athletic and or other events.
But now, next steps are in place as part of a new era for both, as the Jones County Board of Education earlier this summer has approved a substantial renovation of the gymnasium and replacement of the football stadium’s press box.
The next step on both projects, according to JCHS athletic director Chad Alligood, are the soon-to-come meetings with Parrish Construction, which has been awarded the contract for both jobs by the Jones County BOE.
“It’s very exciting for Jones County and our student-athletes,” Alligood said. “Everything we are trying to do is about providing the best for them, and we’re excited for this phase to take off.”
The press box, which due to the current timeframe is likely to not be replaced until after the football season, will be on par with others at stadiums that fans may see when watching the Greyhounds on the road. That will not only make it a bit larger but also adjust its structure up to current coding.
The new press box’s top level, while not enclosed, will be covered, theoretically preventing a need to radio crews and coaches for lug tents to mount on the roof of the press box. It’ll also be built in an era where more is expected from a press box to provide. With more people needed to staff digital scoreboards and the growth of video streaming, press boxes have to be prepared to accommodate more people.
Those factors, Alligood says, all come into play.
“It’ll be all new. Our press box we have now, it’s the original press box. With what we’ll have, it’ll be able to account for coaching staffs, video streaming and those needs,” Alligood said. “The GHSA has certain limits to what press boxes have to be in order to host playoff games. It’s evolved over time, and this press box is over 30 years old. It’s a good time to upgrade.”
Just across the parking lot between Greyhound Field and the JCHS main campus is the other key athletic facility overhaul at the school’s gymnasium, where everything aside from the gym’s floor will be replaced.
It’ll be an overhaul that won’t just impact the sports of basketball, volleyball and wrestling, but other events, such as assemblies, cheerleading exhibitions, awards ceremonies and daily PE class activities.
“You want to provide the best you can for your student-athletes, and that gym is used for more than just basketball,” Alligood said. “It’s the main hub of the high school. There are all kinds of things held in that space, and with these upgrades, you can do even more and have more events there in comfort. You just want to do best by your school system and all in the community that use that space.”
The actual timeline of when that work will begin, Alligood says, will also be hashed out as a timeline is set in meetings with Parrish Construction.
One need, as experienced by anyone to have been at the gym for events in the past year, is the HVAC system. But when one need arose, school officials used the chance to look at the big picture, as well.
“When you start to mess with one, you look at other things, too,” Alligood said. “If you can upgrade, you say why not do this and that. Was why we’re in there, why not do it all?”
