TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — There couldn't be a more exciting time to be a Florida A&M Rattler as renovations to the football fieldhouse, to Bragg Stadium, and other facilities are happening now or are ready to begin. The athletic department hopes it only leads to bigger things in the future.
1983 is the last time the Florida A&M football team's fieldhouse received a significant upgrade.
"Some of their lockers were older than I am," said Kortne Gosha, the Athletic Director at Florida A&M. "It's hard to recruit the young people today to something that's so dated."
Things are dated no more. From top to bottom, the Rattlers domain has been renovated.
"We're about half a million dollars, and our goal is $750,000 to really do the fieldhouse the right way," Gosha said.
Bragg Memorial Stadium is the recipient of $10million from the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency, a life and death allocation of money that will keep football inside the venue for years to come.
"Our desires are to really address the structural issues, address the press box, and then we'll continue to stretch into areas like restrooms, concession stands, the lighting in the stadium," said Gosha.
The upgrades don't stop there.
"That facility, it's transformed it," Gosha said.
The University Softball Complex is now completely turfed for all Rattlers to enjoy.
"Our band, our intramural programs," said Gosha. "Not only do we have to not now worry about weather delays and conditions that happen in Florida, but our field is ready to go. We don't have those annual expenses for maintaining natural turf."
A turf field. A renovated Bragg. A fieldhouse to envy.
"We're all competing," said Gosha. "There are other institutions that student-athletes can participate in intercollegiate athletics. We are the number one public HBCU in the country. We want to make sure our facilities and our student athletic experience is reflective of that excellence."
The excellence they hope will last for years to come.
Gosha said the renovations to the fieldhouse are all funded through donations.
He added they plan to get started on renovations to Bragg as soon as possible, beginning with the structural issues and renovations to the press box.
