I wrote a story in Tuesday's Star-Banner regarding improvements to the athletic facilities at CFCC. It's pretty long, taking up most of two pages in the paper. Still, there wasn't room for everything. Below are some pictures friend of The Sports Blog Erica Brough took on the day we went out there and toured the facilities. Keep in mind that these photos are a couple of weeks old, so more work has been done since they were taken.

From left, that's baseball coach Marty Smith, director of athletics Bob Zelinski, and director of facilities Tom Morelock going over the blueprints. They're standing in what will eventually be the concession stand window.

Here's a view of the new facility. The building in front is the dugout, with the stairs leading up to the coaches' office and seating area for boosters and such.

Here's that dang crosswalk, the safety hazard that prompted the new construction. This is a view from just behind the metal bleachers behind home plate. Players and umpires dressed over here, but more importantly, fans had to walk across here for the restroom or concession area.

This is the old batting cage/net the softball team had to use. They plan on leaving it in left field for visiting teams.

This is the baseball batting practice area. The softball facility will look a lot like this when it's done.

Here's the gym, which CFCC would like very much to replace. That's not exactly feasible financially, so they'd settle for a thorough renovation. Note the new lights - a huge improvement over the old lava lamps.

Just behind the basket pictured above is the Wayne Childers Meeting Room, dedicated to the late men's basketball booster club. Having spent a fair amount of halftimes in this room, I can tell you this is a major upgrade.

Here's a nice view of the tennis plaza, with the plaque dedicating the area to former athletic director Mel Carpenter.

This building is right behind the gym - that's the back of the gym in the background. When finished, it will house spin bikes for athletes and non-athletes alike.

And the finale, which I took to be Erica's favorite. These are the above-mentioned spin bikes, stored in the men's locker room shower area until the building was ready.

That's it. Watch for my CFCC men's basketball preview on Wednesday.