Moody Coliseum has been significantly upgraded over the summer with a new floor and sound system. The changes came after renovations last spring to facilitate handicap access.

With the switch from the Lone Star Conference to the Southland Conference and NCAA Div. I and the introduction of new sports logos, the Department of Athletics decided to replace the basketball court with the new graphics.

“One of the immediate needs when you change your identity and your marks is to change the logos on the floors,” said Athletics Director Jared Mosley. “We knew that was coming, so it was planned – it was a part of our process.”

The wooden floor is still the same floor that was installed in 2006, said Mosley. A basketball court’s protective surface can become damaged over time and needs to be sanded down and re-polished occasionally. The new Wildcat and conference logos rounded out the floor’s new shine.

Scot Colley, director of construction and risk management, the renovations took about six weeks.

“It went pretty smooth,” he said. “There wasn’t really that much to it.”

The conference change was not the only cause for remodeling. The campus-wide push to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act “just happened to fall in line” with the other renovations, Mosley said. The court also had suffered seven years of scuffing and damage from basketball games, Chapel, Sing Song, Summit and other events.

“The court will be covered for big events like Summit and Sing Song to protect it,” Colley said. “But we won’t cover it for daily Chapel.”

While the newly polished floor may benefit only the basketball and volleyball teams, the new speaker system will benefit the entire student body, Mosley said.

“We’ve had a dialogue with the Chapel department and others about needing to upgrade the sound,” Mosley said. “There were a lot of dead spots in the previous system, but if you were sitting in one area of the coliseum, you’d be getting blown away by the sound.”

Dylan Benac, president of the Students’ Association, said the renovations should help.

“The sound systems definitely needed an upgrade,” he said. “You literally could not hear what was going on at the basketball games. The atmosphere really suffered.”

Sporting events are not the only events expected to improve. The more versatile and accommodating sound system will likely improve audience comprehension and enjoyment at all activities held in Moody Coliseum.

“It’s an important transition for ACU to make as we continue to move forward,” Benac said.