The best advice for fans attending today's Dickinson State football game at the Badlands Activities Center may be to arrive early.
With about 1,000 bleacher seats available, seating will be a bit limited for the Blue Hawks' home opener against Wisconsin-Whitewater, which begins at noon and is the first game to be played on the new Sprinturf surface on Fisher Field while the stadium remains under construction.
DSU athletic director Roger Ternes is encouraging fans -- if they desire -- to bring a blanket or a lawn chair and find a spot on the east burm, which is not as highly sloped as it was previously and has been covered with grass sod between the 10-yard lines.
The school is asking fans to park in the lot north of the BAC and east of the rodeo arena.
The parking lot can be reached by turning east off State Avenue at Sixth Street West -- the same entrance one would take when going to the rodeo arena. From there, attendants will direct drivers to parking spots.
ADVERTISEMENT
Additional parking will be available in the Wienbergen Hall and Pulver Hall lots, although it will be limited since students, athletes and game workers will be parking there.
"The easiest and most accommodating place to park would be north of the stadium," Ternes said.
There will be only one entrance into the stadium and that is on the east side off 13th Avenue West, which will be closed from Second Street West to Sixth Street West so it can serve as a walkway for fans as they go from the parking lot to the stadium.
Ticket booths are being set up on 13th Avenue West outside the entrance to the stadium.
Once fans are in the stadium, they must stay on the east or south sides and away from the construction zone on the west side.
Restrooms will be available on the south side on the discus slab and concession stands will be set up in the shot-put area near the entrance.
"It'll be a similar operation to what we had in the past," Ternes said.
