ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert took the press on a Monday tour to see the improvements in Minges Coliseum along with the weight room and construction progress at TowneBank Tower at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Gilbert talked about the new facilities and what it should do for a Pirate program moving forward, Towne Bank Tower in particular.
“This has really transformed our game day experience. The last week or so I’ve been coming up without a hard hat, so that’s telling me that it’s real,” said ECU athletic director Jon Gilbert.
“Obviously we have a lot to do before September 7 and I really think that it is going to take us some time operationally to be at game speed,” Gilbert said, “I feel really good about where we are right now from a functionality standpoint that we’ll be fully operational by September 7th.”
New head football coach Mike Houston sees a lot of benefits to having the new football stadium facility beginning this fall.
“We took our team up there to take a tour of it. It was the first time I’ve been up there since the spring,” said ECU head coach Mike Houston.
“We spent some time up there together yesterday afternoon. Number one, what an impressive facility. We are fortunate to have something like that at East Carolina University. Not only is it going to be a benefit to the football program, it’s going to be a benefit to the entire institution and the surrounding area.”
“It’s going to be a great game day experience for the fans but at the same time we’re going to use it for official visits. We’re going to use it as a point of emphasis for the commitment of the institution to football,” Houston stated, “I think the Towne Bank Tower is going to be something very special to all of us.”
