Upon completion — which is scheduled for mid-August — the south side of Spartan Stadium will be outfitted with a massive 5,300-square foot video board while the north end receives two smaller boards along with a 10.5-foot video band that spans the length of the stadium.

The south side board will become the largest in the state after the Michigan athletics department outfitted Michigan Stadium with two new scoreboards last year roughly 4,000 square feet in size.

“Now what you’ve done is you’ve really brought the video experience to the entire stadium, where before it was simply at that south end,” Associate Athletics Director John Lewandowski said. “The decision was really made because that (old) board had become so outdated that we couldn’t find replacement parts for it.”

A new sound system also is being installed, replacing the old system from 1998 when the old scoreboards were put in, Nestle said. The replacement was necessary because of reliability issues with the old system.

“It’s certainly more powerful,” Nestle said. “There’s a limit as to how much of that power you can use anyway without getting uncomfortable for the people in the stadium.”

Currently, workers are finishing installing the steel structural frames for the larger south side scoreboard and putting in speakers and other equipment on the north end structures, Nestle said.

The construction crew ran into a brief roadblock early on in the process when preparing to install the south side structure by running into some foundations from older structures. It was an easy fix, however, after MSU brought in a structural engineer to evaluate the situation, Nestle said.

“It was a bit of a surprise, (but) it was an obstacle that was fairly easily overcome,” he said.

The upgraded stadium — where MSU hasn’t lost since 2009 — has many fans, including kinesiology junior Ian Meador, for games next season.

“I think it’s going to be sick, to be honest,” Meador said. “I can’t wait. I’m pumped for one (scoreboard) over the student section and then two on the other side, so it should be sweet.”

Not too far from Spartan Stadium, the finishing touches are being put on renovations to Old College Field, which is home to McLane Baseball Stadium, Secchia Stadium and DeMartin Soccer Complex.

The seventh phase of a long-term project at the complex includes updating the entrance area and a new ticket structure among other things. Workers currently are finishing installing new sidewalks and fences as well as upgrading the communications system at the site, Nestle said.

The $3,675,000 project, which began in March, is roughly 75 percent complete, Nestle said, and is on budget and on track to be finished in mid-August.

“The baseball field and softball field have been renovated, (and) a new concession stand so this entrance plaza was kind of the last piece of the puzzle left to create that whole complex,” Nestle said.

When head baseball coach Jake Boss Jr. got the job in 2009, many of the plans for the renovations to Old College Field already were in place, he said, adding that he feels fortunate to benefit from upgrades to the unique facility.

“I really feel like the luckiest guy around to go to work in that place every day because it is really one of the top stadiums to begin with, and it just keeps getting better,” Boss said.