CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The video scoreboard in left/centerfield of Charleston’s Appalachian Power Park is about to get a major upgrade.
“Should be a very noticeable improvement, at least we hope,” said Power Marketing and Media Director Adam Marco. “The old video board was 325 square feet and this one will be nearly 980 square feet.”
The upgrades will include the new video board, improvements to the ballpark control room, new remote cameras, and an improved sound system for the park. The total cost will be close to $750,000 for all upgrades. The Power will pay for the upgrades, but the city of Charleston has agreed to finance the improvements through its bonding authority, substantially reducing the cost of the financing for the Power. City council approved the arrangement Monday night and in exchange the Power extended its lease on the ballpark another five years.
It’s been 13 years since the current system was installed when the ballpark first opened. The change is part of an ongoing series of upgrades at the ballpark. Two years ago the field was resurfaced and Marco said the improved video board was on the wish list for some time.
“We did a lot of research to decide on the right board and see what the upgrades are out there,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of new stadiums in our league over the last couple of seasons so getting a good look at what they’ve done and how they utilize the board has been a key for us in making this decision.”
Total Sports Entertainment, a sports marketing firm, has also been working with the Power and offering oversight into the decisions to insure the board is the right fit.
One stroke of luck was the ability to install the new board without having to rebuild the existing scoreboard apparatus.
“We take out the existing video board, the line score, and the message center and it will replace that spot . It will be under the Appalachian Power sign and underneath the clock,” Marco explained. “Then we keep the two wings with the ad billboards.”
If the board hadn’t fit into the existing space, the cost would have been substantially higher with a reconfiguration of the existing steel frame. The inning by inning scores, players coming to bat, balls/strikes/outs, and other information on the game will now be integrated into a section of the video board. Aesthetically the state of the art electronics will offer a sharper HD image and be easier to see and read even during times of peak sunshine on game day.
Plans call for the new equipment to be installed by November. Marco said the installation will give the Power staff time to learn how to operate the new equipment before the 2017 baseball season.