Sept. 25, 2015 SPRINGFIELD - The ribbon board addition to the mezzanine facade of JQH Arena is almost complete as work continues to be done inside the home of Missouri State men's and women's basketball.
"There's been a lot of work going on behind the scenes during the month of August, structural drawings, architectural drawings, everything like that," said Keith Boaz, executive director of athletic and entertainment facilities. "Then about two weeks ago the crew showed up on site and they're doing the actual install of the ribbon board right now. That should all wrap up by the end of September with the physical install."
The existing signs along the facade have been removed while brackets and cabinets necessary to put the ribbon board in place have also been set along the arena.
"We've managed to get the south side [of JQH Arena] completed and we've managed to get about a third of the north side completed," said Anthony Hardimon, project manager of ANC Sports. "We got the cable pulled for it, the fiber optic cable and the network cable pulled for it as well, so we're looking pretty good as far as the time table is concerned."
According to Hardimon, one of the hardest parts of the process is keeping the boards from shifting and in the same plane as one another. The next step that remains will be to train individuals on the new features for events.
"After we get it all physically installed, once we get all the power into it and the data cable terminated, we have to build the rack in the control room," Hardimon said. "Once that's done, you have (event staff) that will be trained to use the system and how to create content. After that it's just a matter of being able to get everything turned on, get everything configured and get everything looking good. It's a really quick process once it's done being physically built."
Boaz said the goal and the anticipation is that the ribbon board will be operational for the Lady Bears' home exhibition opener on Nov. 2. He added that it will bring a new dynamic to the arena with the ribbon board serving as an option at eye level for more fans that will attract their attention.
"We've always envisioned having a ribbon board," Boaz said. "That's why when JQH Arena was built in 2007-08, we put some infrastructure in to support a ribbon board. We pre-ran electrical, added conduit for data, things like that knowing what it was going to entail. We just didn't have the funding back then to put it in. Finally getting this last piece of the puzzle for JQH Arena is going to be fantastic."
The Missouri State Lady Bears will make their first appearance against Lyon College at 12:05 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, while the Bears make their home debut in exhibition play versus William Jewell on Nov. 7. Season tickets for both teams are available by calling 417-836-8899. Single-game tickets will go on sale at a later date.
