MONTICELLO — If one misses the renovations to the front of Steelman Field House, the videoboards inside the longtime University of Arkansas at Monticello gymnasium are another of many signs a transformation is happening.
The displays have replaced a nearly 25-year-old scoreboard array that included an overhead, two-sided dial above midcourt. The video boards from Digital Scoreboards LLC debuted last Thursday when UAM’s basketball teams opened Great American Conference play against Oklahoma Baptist University.
That’s not all. A 30-foot LED scorers’ table and 15-foot LED press table are soon to come.
“The scoreboard alone makes such a huge difference in Steelman,” said UAM volleyball Coach Arlicia Ortiz, whose team finished its season in November. “It just makes everything so much more engaging, so much more exciting.”
The renovation to Steelman, which opened in 1959, is not just for student-athletes. Graduates and their families will take a firsthand look at some of the changes when UAM hosts its fall commencement Friday.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Steelman lobby is expected to be completed by Wednesday — the deadline for the ongoing upgrades, athletic director Hud Jackson said — with functional restrooms. A concession area that will allow for three checkout points and a small seating area near a window will debut Dec. 18 when the basketball teams host Arkansas Tech University.
“The facility upgrade to Steelman is huge in regards to recruiting and developing a sense of pride for our team,” men’s basketball Coach Chad Tapp said. “We appreciate Coach Hud and (UAM Chancellor Peggy) Doss’ hard work to make it happen.”
The changes are part of UAM’s Legacy Campaign, an initiative to upgrade athletic facilities that began in 2023 with the transformation of an old swimming pool inside Steelman into an athletic performance center named after former football player and White Hall High School graduate Kenneth Hunt. Clark Contractors is the construction company on record.
“If not for Ken Hunt and myself to build the relationship that we did … and guys like (contributor and alumnus) Randy Risher and the people, the Union Banks and Commercial Banks, the Ryburn family … if not for those people, specifically Ken Hunt, to be that catalyst,” Jackson said, the project may not exist.
“We said, if people can see that, they’re going to trust the money is going where we’re saying it’s going,” he added. “It has not ever been that way here.”
Ongoing upgrades, which began in September, include renovations to the basketball and volleyball coaches’ offices and revamps of locker rooms. The projected finish date for these upgrades is Feb. 1, with an 8-foot elevation of the arena ceiling to come after basketball season.
“The renovation of Steelman gives a fresh new look to our home arena,” women’s basketball Coach David Midlick said. “I appreciate the efforts of our athletic director Hud Jackson and the donations of our supporters to make this renovation happen. Our players can see the commitment UAM has to upgrading the facilities we use on a daily basis.”
Midlick looks forward to the improved office space for academic and athletic meetings with his players.
“The improvements will show the UAM and Monticello community the pride that we take in striving to make our athletic department and basketball program a first-class operation,” he said. “Fans and guests will have more space, better concessions, better restrooms and an overall better game-day experience.”
The UAM athletic department has raised $4.3 million since 2021, the year Jackson became interim athletic director. That’s more than 10 times the amount Jackson said the department raised between 2014-20.
Total expenses for the Steelman refresh are approaching $5 million, but the total raised is growing, Jackson said. No longer will Ortiz’s Cotton Blossoms have to worry about a video projector and low-hanging overhead board.
“Now, with those removed, the playing area has opened up, which means more rallies played and less points lost due to interference along the ceiling,” she said. “I’m getting an office that is closer to other coaches and administration, so I believe that will make a huge difference.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
UAM is soliciting more contributions for its Legacy Campaign to aid in the renovation of Willis “Convoy” Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium, the university’s football venue since 1935. While renderings of the stadium’s possible future look appeared in a video updating the campaign’s progress last week, Jackson declined to make the large-scale images available, citing that approval of stadium specifications by the UA System Board of Trustees is still pending. The board meets Jan. 28-29 at UA Pulaski Technical College in Little Rock.
UAM announced it would name its head football coach on campus at 10 a.m. Thursday. The new coach will succeed Jackson, who stepped down from the role last month after 15 years.
More than 120 coaches have applied for the job, Jackson said. The pool was whittled down to 15 candidates, then to three, with one interviewing on campus Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
“The (search) committee has been really satisfied,” Jackson said.
The prospect of a new stadium, which Jackson had originally planned for, was an intrigue to the vacancy for many applicants, he revealed.
“We’ve done a lot to get this job to where it’s an attractive job,” Jackson said. “We’re continuing to do more that makes that part of that coach’s job (handling stadium renovations) not existent. The thing for us is that we want our football to come in and be a great person, a great community member and really focus on being a part of Monticello, but we want them to focus on coaching football, which is what they should be doing.”
