Daily Digs: Seton Hall's New Basketball Center, East Texas A&M's New Event Center, and More!

The Seton Hall University community gathered Wednesday for the blessing and ribbon cutting ceremony for the brand new, state of the art Seton Hall Basketball Performance Center.

On hand to cut the ceremonial ribbon were Monsignor Joseph R. Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., Director of Athletics Bryan Felt '97, Board of Regents Chair Hank D'Alessandro '85, Regent Patrick Murray '64, MBA '72, members of the Frungillo family including Al and Michael Frungillo '96, University VP for Advancement Jon Paparsenos '99 and Seton Hall men's basketball head coach Shaheen Holloway '00.

Located within the Richie Regan Recreation & Athletic Center on the South Orange campus, the Basketball Practice Performance center includes a new basketball court, locker rooms, lounges, offices, sports medicine room, strength and conditioning room, equipment room, film room and more. The creation of the basketball performance also includes enhancements to women's basketball facilities and is the culmination of 10-year master facilities plan for Seton Hall Athletics. [Seton Hall]

East Texas A&M University broke ground on its highly anticipated Event Center on Thursday, March 27—a game-changer for athletics, entertainment, and community connections in Northeast Texas. The university celebrated the groundbreaking with a special ceremony at the site, welcoming community members and distinguished guests.

"In developing this event center—the premier event center in Northeast Texas—we know this can be a catalyst for growth, not just within our university community, but this region, the city of Commerce, Hunt County and beyond," said East Texas A&M Athletics Director Jim Curry.

Located on the south side of campus along State Highway 24 in Commerce, Texas, the modern, multi-use Event Center will primarily serve as the home for East Texas A&M's men's and women's basketball teams. Beyond athletics, the $70 million venue will host major university and community events, including graduations, concerts, conventions and special gatherings. Designed to anchor a future campus event district, the Event Center will serve as a central hub for student life and community engagement in Northeast Texas. [East Texas A&M]

When the Dodgers’ Guggenheim ownership group bought the team in 2012, one of its early hires was renowned sports architect Janet Marie Smith as executive vice president of planning and development.

And in her first couple of months on the job, one of her biggest tasks quickly became clear.

The clubhouse, she recalled, still felt like a “1962 locker room” — from the shared batting cage and food room used by the home and road teams to the dilapidated dressing room that harked back to Dodger Stadium’s opening a half-century earlier.

So that first offseason, the team did some immediate renovations, updating the space with more modern features and expanding its footprint to a more spacious two-level design. [LA Times]

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