Chopper moves air conditioner on McGugin Center roof

By Ryan Schulz

As anyone who has driven down Jess Neely Drive since April already knows, Vanderbilt’s McGugin Center is in the midst of a major renovation to the football offices and academic center. With the calendar about to turn to August, the renovations are nearing completion.

Around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, construction crews took another step toward completing the project when they brought in a helicopter to relocate a five-ton air conditioning unit from one side of the roof to another.

Lacey Ballard from our video staff captured the footage of the move.

Video: Vanderbilt Star at night

by Barca Blog - I took a trip across the street last night to check in on intern Travis and his mission to get an exact count on all the seats inside Vanderbilt Stadium (excluding the press box, suites, etc.).

As I made my way past Star Walk and headed into the south end zone, I took a quick video of the new Vanderbilt Star Logo, which lights up and glows above the tunnel at night. The logo was one of several additions to phase 2 of the stadium upgrades. Watch below:

Football construction update

by Barca Blog - As I promised on Sunday... here are some updated photos of the football stadium renovations courtesy of John Russell.

Phase 2 is almost complete with kickoff only 11 days away. You'll notice black and gold pavers in the shape of the Star V logo have been added into the plaza areas as well as your personalized bricks. Also, benches and light posts surround the entrances with plants placed around the exterior walls. And check out the Star V over the tunnel at Star Walk. I've been told it will light up for night games.

Click Here to view Russell's photo gallery.

If you'd like to support Vanderbilt's facility upgrades, please contact the National Commodore Club at (615) 322-4114.

Star Walk Brickwork

By Ryan Schulz - If you happened to be on Vanderbilt's campus last week, you may have noticed Jess Neely Drive was closed to traffic for the majority of the week. The reason for the closure was to allow construction crews an opportunity to do brickwork on Vanderbilt's Star Walk, where the football team enters Vanderbilt Stadium before each home football game.

As you can see from the photo above, the crews created a distinct black and gold brick pathway connecting the Star Walk entrance to the football stadium across Jess Neely Drive. The addition of the bricks to the Star Walk is just the latest portion of the on-going renovation process of Vanderbilt Stadium to be completed.