Contact: Joe Farris
Mississippi State football fans attending home games Saturday [Sept. 30] and four other times this season will encounter some changes in pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns and parking.
Construction to enlarge the east side of the university's Scott Field has eliminated Alumni Drive on the east side of the football stadium and the construction lay-down site has taken away three Bulldog Club parking areas in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.
In addition to the University of Florida game this weekend, MSU's 2000 home schedule includes Auburn University on Oct. 7; Homecoming with Middle Tennessee State University, Oct. 28; and the universities of Alabama and Arkansas, Nov. 11 and 18, respectively.
Entrance to Scott Field also will be adjusted because of the construction. Access to the east side will be limited to gates on the north and south ends only, with no operative gates in the center of the east side.
Students should enter the stadium from the north side, while general public, faculty and staff may enter from either the north or south gates. Non-student tickets on the east side also will be honored on the west side. Those patrons can use the walkway around the north end zone to claim their east side seats.
Bulldog Club parking lots 2, 4, and 6 will be relocated to lot 24, which is directly behind McArthur Hall, the former athletic residence hall just northwest of the stadium. The east side handicapped parking, which was located on Alumni Drive, will move to the Briscoe-Garner-Freeman Lot, just east of the stadium off Barr Avenue.
All other reserved parking lots, including the handicapped lot on the west side of the stadium, will remain in their customary locations. Open game-day parking also will be in the same location, near the intramural tennis courts south of Scott Field and surrounding Humphrey Coliseum to the north.
A slight alteration in game-day traffic flow will result from closing Complex Road at Highway 82 coming onto the campus from the north. Complex Road is the former construction entrance to campus that winds past the softball field, Bryan Athletic Administration Building, and Shira Athletic Complex, terminating near Humphrey Coliseum.
All other routes into campus on football game days will remain the same.
Exit from campus following games will continue as in the past. Stone Boulevard south of the stadium will be two lanes going south to Blackjack Road, which will be two lanes headed west to Locksley Way. University Drive will be two lanes going west to Montgomery Street.
University officials also are reminding fans that Southeastern Conference rules prohibit artificial noisemakers, including cowbells, inside the football stadium. "As an institution, we're committed to playing by the rules, and we are asking for the understanding and cooperation of Bulldog supporters in helping us stay within those rules," said Athletic Director Larry Templeton. As in prior years, fans carrying cowbells will not be admitted to the stadium.