TIM PRATT

STARKVILLE — Improvements could be on the way to Mississippi State University’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and the surrounding infrastructure thanks to a joint effort between the city of Starkville, Oktibbeha County, MSU and the Greater Starkville Development Partnership.

The entities are joining together to request federal funding to repair and resurface Airport Road, where the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and George Bryan Field are located, on the west side of town. The funds also would be used to build a new access road more than 200 yards from Highway 25 to a new western entrance to George Bryan Field.

“Doing so will open up land for possible aerospace industry development, as well as improved services to industries in our area,” Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum said of the proposed access road.

The road projects are budgeted at $800,000.

Local officials also plan to request federal funding for improvements to equipment at the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, they announced at a press conference at the facility, Wednesday.

One equipment item of significant importance is the autoclave, which, at 10 feet wide and 55 feet long, requires an upgrade and certification to efficiently manufacture parts for both manned and unmanned aircraft.

The improvements to the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, budgeted at $500,000, and surrounding infrastructure are the result of a community roundtable meeting last month between the city, county, MSU and GSDP.

“This is an example of our city, our county, our business community and our university joining together to advance economic opportunities for Starkville, Oktibbeha County and Mississippi State University,” Keenum said.

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DAVID MILLER

Mississippi State University Athletic Director Greg Byrne, who announced Monday he’ll be leaving the school for Arizona State University, will be on board in Starkville until late April as the MSU begins a search for his replacement.

It is unclear whether Byrne, who enjoyed a successful yet brief stint as MSU’s athletics chief after taking over for Larry Templeton in 2008, will assist or recommend potential successors to MSU President Mark Keenum, who hasn’t named any candidates for the job.

MSU will be looking for its third athletic director in three years after Byrne, 38, informed his staff Monday that he’d be heading west to take the same position at Arizona.

The lure to Tucson proved too good to pass up for Byrne, who received his undergraduate degree from Arizona State in 1994 and had grown up in Eugene, Ore.

Despite the significant pay increase from $302,500 to $390,000 for the Arizona job, Byrne said the move was a family decision in a news release Monday. Byrne’s new salary was first reported by the Arizona Daily Star.

UA president Robert Shelton said Byrne could make more than his $390,000 base salary with academic and athletic incentives.

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DAVID MILLER

STARKVILLE — Talk about a case of the Mondays.

An early a.m. news release from Mississippi State University announced Director of Athletics Greg Byrne will take the same position at the University of Arizona.

Byrne, who will be announced Wednesday in Tucson, Ariz., informed the athletic department staff Monday morning but spoke to head football coach Dan Mullen prior to the meeting. Mullen said Byrne was “emotional” during that conversation.

Through a prepared release through the school, Byrne, who will be on board in Starkville until April, said he had a “heavy heart” letting everyone affiliated with Mississippi State know of his departure.

No decision has been made about a replacement.

“As we have discussed many times, intercollegiate athletics is a very emotional industry,” his release read. “It is why all of us are so invested in this business, whether it is as administrators, coaches, student-athletes, or fans. We all have strong feelings about what happens here. My emotions today range from the highest highs to the lowest lows. While I am excited about a new opportunity, I am heartbroken to be leaving a lot of friends.”

Nevertheless, Byrne takes over an Arizona job that will give him roughly $12 million more in athletics budget to work with each season. But Byrne, who originally came to MSU as the director of the Bulldog Club, said the move West was largely a family decision.

Byrne grew up in Eugene, Ore., where his father, current Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne, was the University of Oregon athletic director from 1983-92. Greg Byrne also worked at the Oregon as a fundraiser for the Duck Club.

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