Oklahoma's Owen Field, Lloyd Noble Center Will Get $16 Million in Improvements

The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents is expected to approve on Friday $16 million in facility upgrades and renovations for several athletics facilities,

John E. Hoover | Dec 1, 2021

The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents is expected to approve on Friday $16 million in facility upgrades and renovations for several athletics facilities, including a new subsurface and new lights for Owen Field.

The regents on Wednesday published the agenda for Friday’s meeting.

The plans call for a brand new drainage and irrigation system for Owen Field, which was last upgraded in 1994, per the agenda. The existing system was “experiencing consistent failures due to the age of the piping materials.”

Also, a new $3.7 million light system will replace the existing lights that were installed in 1997. The new system will include LED technology, which is expected to include the ability to change colors and will save money on energy consumption and maintenance.

The practice field will also get a new “sports lighting” LED light system.

Memorial Stadium will also get an upgrade on the fascia board ribbon display for $1.3 million, new goalposts, and a $775,000 video board display will be installed inside Everest Training Center.

Lloyd Noble Center will get upgrades as well, including a $7.5 million main scoreboard display hung over center court as well as auxiliary displays.

John Jacobs Track will get a $900,000 upgrade as well.

Published Dec 1, 2021

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.