The latest edition of Tiger Roar, the official magazine of Tigers Unlimited, showcases many facility upgrades across the Auburn Athletics landscape. The cover features the already in-progress south endzone development of Jordan-Hare Stadium. But the new details come later in the volume. Buried under many ads and featured athletic stories are the plans for three new Auburn stadium expansion programs.

The first Auburn stadium expansion planned is for the equestrian program. Two new facilities will be built at the Horse Center: a barn and an equestrian support facility. The barn will house more than 20 stalls, a tack and team room, a nutrition center, equipment storage, laundry area, and media room. The second building will include restrooms, locker rooms, classroom, and training room. Auburn has already reached nearly 75% of the $5 million goal, which allows construction to begin late Spring 2018.

The Auburn equestrian team has been one of the most prominent in their field over the last decade or so. Equestrian became an official Auburn sport in 2002, and the Tigers have won four national championships in that time. The Auburn Horse Center has not received any notable renovations that “directly impact student-athletes since the team’s first year.”

A new press box and video board were recently built at the Horse Center.

The bigger news comes with the plans to build on to Plainsman Park and Jane B. Moore Field. Both facilities are quickly becoming dated, especially with the teams on the rise and competing for championships.

The Baseball Facility Improvement plans have a set goal of $4.8 million to build a Player Development Center. Alongside extending the Tiger Terrace and adding more seats in the right outfield near K-Corner, the new Center will be home to four indoor batting cages, two pitching mounds, pitching and hitting analytics lab, a fitness room, team meeting space, visitor and professional player locker room, and an umpire locker room. Plans are also in place to expand the covered seating areas down the first and third base lines. Also, the press box is expected to be expanded to accommodate more media and add new club seats.

Auburn Baseball has received a fair number of projects over the last few years. Prior to the 2014 season, the Auburn clubhouse was renovated and included upgrades to the locker room, equipment room, and training facilities. This past season, Auburn added one of the largest video boards in the country, and changed out the backs to nearly 4,000 seats in the stadium. Also, a brand new LED lighting system was installed, as well as a new sound system, and a TrackMan system to better record analytics and statistics of the game.

Also set for a $4.8 million goal, Jane B. Moore Field will look to change the most of the listed facilities. Auburn’s softball stadium is one of the smaller facilities in the SEC, and anyone that has attended a home game will attest to the need for upgrades. A player development facility will be built on the first base side of the stadium, near the visitor bullpens. The facility will feature a practice infield and indoor batting cages.

With season tickets selling out quickly each year after the recent success, new seating was a must. The Auburn stadium currently has 1,100 permanent seats with temporary seating allowing in about 800 more fans. New seats will be added on a second deck above the in-place permanent seats. The press box will also be expanded, hopefully deterring the need for the unattractive media tent that’s been set up the last few post seasons. The front entrance of Jane B. Moore will be more grandiose then ever before with these changes. Plans to pave the now gravel parking lot between Biggio Drive and Wire Road were disclosed to the E2C Network in the past. Those plans were not listed in the magazine.

Auburn is continuing to play catch-up in the arms race with many facilities. These upgrades are necessary to stay competitive across the country. I’m most excited to see what Jane B. Moore Field can look like with the much needed seating expansions.

What Auburn stadium expansion are you most looking forward to? What plans to you want to see Auburn take on in the future?

Featured images via Auburn Athletics