The City of Conway has made a gift of $500,000 to Coastal Carolina University for naming rights at the new $10.5 million baseball field. The boardwalk that lines the outfield fence will thus be known as the City of Conway Boardwalk.
City administrator Bill Graham said that the boardwalk will be used to promote the city's riverwalk, historic downtown business district and live oaks among others. Smartphone users will also be noticing labels that they can be used to find about attractions and dining in downtown Conway.
"Essentially the boardwalk is open to anyone who's inside the stadium. It's a connecting feature that basically allows people to walk all around the stadium. I think the really neat feature about it [the boardwalk] is it's going to allow someone to go the entire circumference of the stadium," CU's interim director of athletics Matt Hogue said, My Horry News reports.
The City of Conway will donate $500,000 over a period of five years, $100,000 every year. It will retain the naming rights for 20 years.
Prior to the new stadium, CCU had to host NCAA regional tournaments at the Pelican stadium in Myrtle Beach to entertain the crowds.
CCU's new stadium with 3,000 seats is expected to solve the problem of seating capacity. Hogue said that one of the nation's most elite stadiums would provide baseball fans "an experience", besides an entertaining and energetic ballgame.
Hogue believes that the new stadium will enhance the school's image and the experience of visitors.
".....from 2011 through the next three years, growth at CCU will result in $256 million in construction of new facilities. Just this construction, in and of itself, has and will result in significant income to the City through license fees for general contractors and subcontractors as well as water and sewer capital recovery fees. It should also be noted that, without the benefits that came with the growth at CCU, the impact of the national economic recession would have been much more devastating on the City and the people of this community," a position paper included in council's information read.
The stadium is expected to host its first ever game on Feb. 13.
