Tech to install new fencing around track, practice field

Two of Louisiana Tech’s more exposed outdoor athletic facilities will receive needed upgrades.

The university, along with the Louisiana Tech Foundation, got the green light to add a new metal fence, decorative brick, pedestrian level lighting, and landscaping to Jim Mize Track and Field Complex and football outdoor practice fields after the UL System Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the projects Thursday.

The project is expected to be completed by September, with the total value of improvements estimated to cost $550,000, according to the Tech University Foundation.

Tech Athletic Director Eric Wood cited the need for the track, football and other programs to be able to practice in their own space without potential for public interference or viewing.

Pedestrian lighting will be installed as well, as there are currently no lights lining the nearly half-mile walk down Tech drive from Joe Aillet to J.C. Love Field.

“Without there being a fence around there for track and football practice, you get a lot of traffic walking through what are scheduled practices,” Wood said of the project. “I view that like a classroom and a professor in a sense because our coaches are educators trying to teach their athletes. They deserve to have their own space to coach and not have any disruption.”

Wood said the track and grass practice fields will still be open for public hours once the fencing is complete, but the project’s need to distinguish the two is what coaches and athletes have wanted for some time.

“We still want the community involved and will still have public hours, but we need to be able to have it look differently,” Wood said.

Additions to the Jim Mize Track and Field Complex were overdue according to Wood, including a reaffirmation of the name of the facilities in the plan sent to the UL Board of Supervisors.

Mize attended Tech as an athlete from Fair Park High School in Shreveport and later came back to the university as a coach. He coached football alongside Joe Aillet and Maxie Lambright for 24 years.

During his time at Tech, Mize also built a consistent track program, winning conference championships in 1961, 1973, and 1974.

For Wood and other university officials, they view the project is a chance to finally give one of the biggest features on campus an upgrade.

“Coming down Tech Drive, that’s really the entrance to our campus,” Wood said. “And to have it look nice with the fence and everything is going to be such a good thing,” Wood said.