Bond improvements passed during the May 2023 election continue to be implemented for Brownwood ISD, as Lady Lion Field and Morris Southall Field – home of the Lady Lions softball and Lions baseball teams – have new artificial turf playing surfaces in place.

“Softball and baseball, they’ve laid down all the turf,” said BISD Assistant Superintendent Mitch Moore. “Softball is a little bit ahead of baseball, but softball starts a little sooner than baseball. They were inlaying the leaping lion today on both fields. The turf is down on both fields, but it still has to be sewn into place and add the infill.”

Poles for the new fences, around both the playing field and the bullpens, are up, and though the dugouts will remain the same at both fields, upgrades are in the works for each.

“We’re using the existing dugouts, but we’ve discussed the updates we’re going to have for those and the changes we’re going to have,” Moore said. “We’ll make a few changes with the existing structures, and that will start pretty quick.”

New lighting, a feature currently enjoyed by Gordon Wood Stadium during football season, will also be happening at the softball and baseball facilities.

“The bases of the light poles are in and they’re finishing what they need to do there before the light structures go up, which should be pretty soon,” Moore said.

Moore added that bleachers for Morris Southall Field would soon be arriving as well, but completing the concession stand in time for the season opener may not be possible.

“If that’s the case, we’ll have a plan for that in the interim, and there will still be concessions out for everybody,” Moore said.

The new parking lot for the softball and baseball complexes, off Magnolia Drive, is taking shape as well.

“That’s one thing I’m really excited about because it will improve safety for everyone, to get parking off the street on Good Shepard and have people having to cross the street to get the games,” Moore said.

Closer to the high school, the Gus Snodgrass Indoor Facility renovations are nearing completion, while work on the Student Activity Center continues.

“The Snodgrass Facility is days or weeks away from being completed,” Moore said. “That structure will serve as the weight room, and there will be a couple of indoor things for baseball and softball in there as well. We just have a few more inspections to be completed, and the weights are being moved back in as we speak. That building will be handed back over to the district soon and I know our coaches and students will be excited because they’ve been bussing to the middle school since last spring for weight training.”

As for the massive Student Activity Center, Moore said, “They were able to pour concrete on Monday for some of the forms, and that was great because we had a little rain shower Sunday but it didn’t delay that. We had those great rains a couple of weeks ago and that got us behind a little, but not much. We’re close to seeing that structure start going up.”

Regarding the next phase of Gordon Wood Stadium renovations, the plan is still to begin those immediately after the conclusion of the Lions football team’s regular season. Upcoming improvements will include the addition of 1,000 home bleachers, ADA/code improvements (ramp access, aisles and stairs renovated for code compliance, ADA parking), new concessions and restrooms, a new track surface and a new press box with an elevator.

“We will not be hosting any playoff games this year, we’ll go straight into work on construction at the stadium to maximize our time there,” Moore said.

At the middle school campus, Moore said, “We’re working on the final drawings for the remodel of the middle school locker rooms. The plan on that is to start work in a couple of months sometime this fall.”

Safety and security upgrades campus-wide continue to be a year-round process.

“We’re working on our maps of all school campuses and looking for any holes where we need cameras,” Moore said. “We’re also looking at some perimeter fencing at some of our campuses. We’re getting bids for that and getting that drawn out and detailed so you’ll see some of that starting this fall. We’re also looking at door lock systems and streamlining that to minimize the number of keys we have out. We’re always looking at what we can do to make our campuses safer and keep our kids safe.”

A total of $59,950,000 of improvements will be made throughout Brownwood ISD due to the passage of the bond.