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LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After a 2021 season which saw its aging locker room air conditioning system struggle to meet the demands of cooling the area, the NM State football team found itself on the receiving end of three separate financial commitments which will remedy the situation in the near future.
Thanks to two private donations totaling $120,000 and an additional $100,000 in funds from New Mexico State University, a new refrigerated cooling system is set to be installed in the NM State football locker room.
“Collaborative efforts such as this illustrate the willingness from our supporters as well as our institution to do what’s right by our student-athletes,” commented NM State Deputy Director of Athletics Braun Cartwright. “Anyone who has ever spent a summer in New Mexico knows how important an adequately functioning air conditioning system is. This is the first step in what we hope is a continued series of improvements to our football facilities as we prepare to transition to Conference USA in July of 2023.”
The Aggies’ field house in which the football locker room is housed was constructed at the same time as Aggie Memorial Stadium, ahead of the 1978 season. Total costs for the stadium and the field house were, at the time, $4 million and an evaporative cooling system – colloquially known as a swamp cooler – was installed in NM State’s locker room area.
In the four-and-a-half decades since its construction, that system fell into a state of disrepair. Fortunately, with the above financial commitments coupled with the renovations to the Aggies’ locker room made in 2017 by the Allen family, NM State’s locker room will be able to be used comfortably by the team throughout spring practice and summer workouts leading up to the 2022 season.
The installation of the new refrigerated cooling system is expected to be completed by late spring of 2022, well ahead of the Aggies’ summer workout period leading up to the 2022 campaign.
For complete coverage of NM State football as the Aggies prepare for their first year coach Kill, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of Aggie athletics – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Football), Twitter (@NMStateFootball) and Instagram (@NMStateFootball).
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