Adviser’s note: This story previous included a direct quote from assistant athletic director Rick Baguley which was recorded out of context. It has been removed.
When Homewood finally hosts its home opener for the 2023 football season, fans will see some changes at Waldrop Stadium.
A new main entrance and a 40-foot Jumbotron will greet fans on the west side of the field.
The new entrance will be newly paved and will serve as a faster way to get people in and out of the stadium.
Doug Gann, the Athletic Director of Homewood High School, is hopeful the new entrance will make it easier to fans to get into the stadium on those packed Friday nights.
“We had issues in the past with how slow and long it took to get people into and out of the stadium,” he said. “We hope this new addition solves that problem.”
The Jumbotron may be even more impressive and will showcase highlights from athletic events as well as advertisements from local businesses that support Homewood athletics.
HCS superintendent Justin Hefner believes this new feature of Waldrop will both highlight all of the talent and work on the field, as well as bring excitement to athletics at the stadium.
“Our students work extremely hard on and off the field. As a school system, we want to be able to showcase our students in every way we can, and the Jumbotron is one way we can do that,” he said. “The Jumbotron will serve as a platform to shine a spotlight on our athletes, band and community, ultimately enhancing the level of engagement among fans. Additionally, it will offer an avenue to express our gratitude to the local businesses that support our students and schools.”
Gann said Homewood took a cue from neighboring schools when deciding on the Jumbotron and joked that we want ours to be the best.
“We saw other schools like Vestavia do it so we thought Homewood might as well do it,” Gann said. “We want it to be a foot taller than Vestavia’s Jumbotron.”
“The cost is unknown,” Gann adds. “We never really paid attention to the cost of it all.”
The Jumbotron is sure to bring a lot of hype to the stadium. However, a lot will be going on behind the scenes to make it work.
That is where assistant athletic director Rick Baguley and the new Sports Media and Event Production course come in.
Baguley, coaches Elijah Garrison and Rebecca Shields and students from the class will be in charge of managing the scoreboard operations.
“We’ll get three students from the class out of about 20 to help every Friday home game,” Baguley said.
Baguley added that “along with notable replays, we will capture headshots and little 15-second blue screen videos for every good play done by that specific player.”
Along with the Jumbotron, there will be a new set of bathrooms going in behind the stadium, which was added with the band in mind.
Previously, band members had to walk to the length of the home stand to get to the one set of bathrooms. Homewood Band director Chris Cooper said that was “a big issue” due to the inconvenience and time it would take a band member to work their way through the crowed to the opposite end. He is confident that “having this new addition to the stadium will definitely solve those problems”.
More than likely, the renovations won’t be finished in time for the first home game versus Helena on Sept. 8. This means that part of the parking lot will be closed. This will make getting into and out of the stadium, an irregular challenge. Fans need to make sure to allow extra time for parking.
Gann expressed that the exact date of the project’s completion cannot pinpointed.
“It’s basically the unknown,” he said. “It’s both exciting and scary at the same time.”
When the renovations are complete, though, the new additions for the Homewood sports venue will certainly bring an atmosphere to Waldrop that has not been seen for years.
“It’s going to look great,” Gann said. “Myself, along with the community of Homewood, are really looking forward to this new addition.”
