You thought it was tough to mount your big-screen TV on the wall? You should see what it took to install the new video display at Jack Trice Stadium.
Fans at Saturday’s Iowa State-Northern Iowa game will see the new video board, which will include a 80-foot-by-36-foot high-definition video screen and speaker system.
Daktronics of South Dakota created the board, but a collection of central Iowa companies put it in place 101 feet above the playing surface.
Ensuring it all would hold up was Raker Rhodes Engineering in Des Moines, owned by ISU alums Erik Raker and John Rhodes. Raker has designed high rises before, but has done nothing quite like a video board installation.
The Weitz Co. managed the improvements to the stadium, led by Ben Bruns (BS in Construction Engineering in 2001). The former Cyclone center, who played on the field from 1996 to 2000, has guided the stadium renovation.
Read the full story.