Bragg Stadium renovations brings traffic changes
Photo by St. Clair Murraine
Outlook staff report
Traffic around Bragg Memorial Stadium on FAMU’s campus looks a little bit different since renovation work began on the stadium earlier this week.
Due to construction and renovating of the football stadium, traffic entering and exiting Bob Hayes Lane will be diverted.
The renovation is being financed by $10 million from the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency Board last summer. It’s the first major renovation being done to the 63-year-old stadium since 1982.
However, prior to last season a new artificial turf was installed at Bragg, which had been painted several times in the past 10 years.
Renovations are expected to include upgrades or a complete overhaul of the press box. Plans also call for a major overhaul of the rest rooms in addition to bringing lighting up to code.
Renovation to the east side of the stadium will include the visitor’s seating section being demolished, repaired and replaced.
Football hasn’t been played at Bragg since the 2019 season completed. But since the pandemic outbreak last year the stadium has been a COVID-19 testing site, which has allowed more than 250,000 to be tested for the virus.
The COVID-19 testing site is currently located on the west side of the stadium and will remain open. However, traffic to the site should enter from Wahnish Way to Okaloosa Street, utilizing the southwest gate.
FAMU also opened its walk-up COVID-19 vaccination site last Thursday for individuals 65 and older and health care workers at the Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium. To enter the vaccination site, visitors should also use the southwest gate on Okaloosa Street.
“In spite of the major work that is planned to renovate Bragg Memorial Stadium, our professional staff and construction managers were able to come up with a parking plan that allows for limited parking for athletics behind the field house, the COVID-19 testing site on the north end, the COVID-19 vaccination site behind and just north of the Lawson Center and for ARMY ROTC behind their building,” said Tanya Tatum, director of FAMU Student Health Services.
