The Auburn Board of Trustees voted unanimously Friday to initiate a long-awaited project to build a new video board in the Jordan-Hare Stadium north end zone, replacing the antiquated current scoreboard which was first installed in 1987.

“The condition of the scoreboard is truly problematic,” Dan King, vice president of the Property and Facilities Committee, said during the meeting at the Auburn University Montgomery campus.

King said the new video board design will have a support structure “compatible with any future that might occur in the north end zone,” seeming to signify larger future construction plans.

Immediately after the vote passed, Auburn released a rendering and further information on the video board. The release states Auburn plans to begin construction this summer and have the video board completed by the 2025 season.

“The videoboard’s concrete base structure is also expected to provide an expanded north end zone concourse to provide additional food and beverage offerings, while easing the flow of fans around the main concourse level of Jordan-Hare Stadium,” the release states.

The new video board will be “47 feet high by 154 feet wide, totaling 7,238 square feet of LED space,” according to the release.

“We are appreciative of the Auburn Board of Trustees for its continued support of Auburn Athletics and the Auburn Family,” Atheltic Director John Cohen said in the release. “This videoboard project will not only take a big step in our efforts to provide a better aesthetic balance between Jordan-Hare Stadium’s north and south end zones and an improved sound experience, but more importantly will continue to modernize the fan experience for our fan base. It will also give our south end zone patrons, including our student section, an opportunity to have an unimpeded and straight-ahead view of a state-of-the-art videoboard.”

King told the Board that the 36-year-old current scoreboard has well “exceeded its expected service life.” In 2007, Auburn conducted “significant component replacement” on the scoreboard, King said.

The vote also approved the use of LBYD Engineers of Birmingham to design the new video board.

Auburn has previously used the engineering company for projects including the Auburn Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory and the Academic Classroom and Laboratory Complex. LBYD Engineers also worked on the design for the new South Alabama football stadium which opened in 2020.

The video board construction will be paid for with Athletic Department funds. The Board did not discuss a budget for the project nor any potential proposed designs.

“Fans in the south end zone do not have a video board that they can easily see,” King said. “The big video board that exists is above their heads and behind them. A video board in the north end zone will enhance their experience significantly.”

The approval makes official a much-discussed process toward modernization in the north end zone. Board of Trustees meeting documents state Auburn will build a “new, modern videoboard to improve the fan experience.”

Cohen has frequently mentioned a project not just to add a video board, but to renovate the entire north end zone. It was one of the first facility upgrade projects he discussed upon arriving to Auburn in the fall of 2022.

Cohen told AL.com that eventually, he wants to add a plaza-type “premium” area for fans resembling similar recent projects at Arkansas, Florida State and Nebraska.

Cohen does not have a timeline for when Auburn may begin pursuing the premium seating renovation project.

“We’re going to design a state-of-the-art video board in the north end that’s going to fit in with several premium areas of the north end zone,” Cohen said in November. “Hopefully featuring a top level, a mid-level with suites and a club. Then a group level, a field-level facility that allows fans to see the game at field level.”

For now, this vote is just an approval to begin an official design process on the video board itself.

Though, Auburn has reached this stage before. In 2017, the Board of Trustees had a similar vote for a similar approval on a north end zone video board. Construction never happened.

Cohen has always appeared committed to what appears to be a long renovation process. As of mid-January, Cohen said he and his staff are working on a proposal for internal review. That step is yet to reach the Board of Trustees.

Cohen has said the full renovation is still in the “dream phase.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]