HAILSTATEBEAT: Behind The Design Of The New Dude

In June of 2013, Michael Boerner was watching college baseball on his iPad while at a conference in San Diego. His alma mater, Mississippi State, was unexpectedly one of the hottest teams in the country, and the Bulldogs were cruising through the postseason, already deep into a College World Series run.

Boerner, an architect for Wier, Boerner, Allin in Jackson, Mississippi, was due to fly back home as soon as the conference ended. But when his iPad showed his team win yet another game and clinch an appearance in the Championship Series – the first time MSU had ever played for a National Championship in any sport – Boerner called his associates at the firm to make a change of plans.

Meet me in Omaha.

So with a bag packed for southern California, Boerner made way for northern Nebraska to watch his Bulldogs play for the Championship.

Nearly five years later, Boerner was in Jackson preparing for a trip to Starkville where he was scheduled to make a presentation about the new MSU Baseball stadium his firm had designed, a speaking engagement at the First Pitch Banquet to kick off the 2018 baseball season. Shortly before leaving, Boerner dug out the old suitcase he had taken to San Diego and that had been redirected to Omaha. When he opened it up, something he had apparently never unpacked fell out of one of the pockets.

On one side of the bar coaster was the logo for "Mr. Toad," an Irish pub in Omaha, and on the back was something he had completely forgotten: one of the first-ever sketches of the new Dudy Noble, the soon-to-be-open stadium about which he was on his way to speak.

21130

At the time of the World Series in 2013, the firm had already been approached about making plans for the future of MSU's baseball stadium, but only recently had discussions begun to change from a renovation of the current one to the construction of a brand new stadium. The kindling for creative flame had just been placed, and when the three arrived in Omaha, the sparks flew and lit the fire.

On their first full day in town, the trio took a tour of TD Ameritrade Park, the new and highly-praised home of the College World Series. That night, the group settled in for dinner at Mr. Toads. Inspired by what they had seen, they quickly started bouncing around ideas, their collective creativity snowballing as they threw out suggestions, discussed their merits and built upon the visions they all had popping into their imaginations.

"A few beers at Mr. Toad's helped us to be a little more free with our thoughts," Boerner now says with a laugh.

Soon enough, the waters of discussion rose so high that they could no longer be contained in words spoken aloud. Without a notebook handy, Boerner searched around for some kind of disposable surface to sketch out their plans. When he spotted an unused paper coaster on the table, he flipped it over, grabbed a pen and got to work.

Certainly, there existed more professional renderings and drawings back at the office in Jackson, but that night was when what the New Dude would eventually become was born. There in Omaha was the first time the right field plaza was discussed, the visually-arresting grand entrance to the outfield. That was when they brought up the potential to take a portion of the land behind the left field wall and erect loft apartments, one of the most unique and ambitious touches to a college baseball stadium anywhere.

Taking inspiration from another of their favorite features from TD Ameritrade Park, the group made plans for what Boerner calls the "parade route" that runs the entire circumference of the stadium, an open concourse circling out from home, all through the outfield and back into the grandstands. There isn't place to stand where you can't see the game, from the home entrance to the berms and into the new Left Field Lounge.

"Think Neshoba County fair cabins meets Bourbon Street," he says now.

All of it sketched onto a coaster that Boerner slipped into his back pocket without a second thought at the end of one unexpected night in late June of 2013.

"It was all part of the magical experience of being in Omaha for the World Series," he says. "To this day, I still have to pinch myself when I walk around the stadium."

The amount of people involved in making the New Dude a reality is borderline staggering, from athletic directors, contractors and construction workers, to designers Wier, Boerner, Allin and advisors Populous and even famed baseball architect and MSU alum Janet Marie-Smith, who offered her expert input.

The full team of designers, builders, creators and thinkers has worked for over half of a decade – a work now nearing completion – to create the premier venue in college baseball, a home deserving of the most dedicated fanbase in the sport.

And it all came from a coaster at Mr. Toad's.

Mississippi State University Athletics

HAILSTATEBEAT: Behind The Design Of The New Dude

Related News

Related Videos