A rendering of the Pentecost Plaza, which is slated to begin construction in February and serve as the entrance to the Old College Field stadiums.
A new entrance plaza will be built at Old College Field starting in February through a $2 million donation accepted by the Board of Trustees at its December meeting.
The new plaza will be a brick entrance way to McLane Baseball Stadium, Secchia Stadium and DeMartin Stadium and will be named after Joe Pentecost, who started The Joe D. Pentecost Foundation in July of 2002. Pentecost was an avid MSU supporter and died in 2006, according to a release.
The construction of the plaza will be funded completely by the foundation, Deputy Athletic Director Greg Ianni said.
“We’ve been working on the field for 10 years now,” Ianni said. “It will complete the puzzle.”
The new site will give a formal entrance to the sport stadiums, Senior Associate Athletics Director Charles Sleeper said.
Besides giving recognition to donors, the new plaza also will give the stadiums a formal ticket booth and make them more fan friendly, as people will know where to enter and have walkways to each stadium, he said.
Along with the new plaza, there has been discussion about adding lights to the stadiums for night games, Sleeper said.
“It gives it a nice finishing look,” Sleeper said. “It provides a common entrance for all the fields. We’re pleased that the foundation stepped up to put up an entrance.”
The foundation began the project because of Pentecost’s interest in Spartan athletics, foundation President Rita Stoskopf said. Pentecost also contributed to the Spartan Stadium expansion project, Berkowitz Basketball Complex and Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center.
“When we went to see Old College Field, there was not an entrance or a ticket booth,” Stoskopf said. “We wanted to complete the project and make a beautiful entrance for people to go to.”
A program named Joe’s Kids run through the foundation also takes at-risk children to MSU games and gives them tours of campus, Stoskopf said.
Along with giving the stadium a formal entrance, the new plaza will give students a new meeting point, Sleeper said.
Accounting freshman Amy Paruk said once the plaza is completed, it would be a nice place to sit and relax.
“There’s pretty scenery, and you could be able to hear the band,” Paruk said.
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