Rain delays opening of stadium complex

By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- The weather has put this fall's football games at the new stadium complex in jeopardy.
If continued heavy rains wash out Leetonia fans' last hope for football to be played at home this year, the final two varsity home games will be played at Crestview.
Superintendent Tom Inchak said the heavy rain Saturday washed away much of the topsoil on the field. With a little break in the weather Tuesday, construction crews were replacing that and building bleachers.
Inchak has agreements with East Palestine and United to host the first four home games.
Rescheduling games to play on the opponents' fields was not an option most wanted to consider, Inchak said. The games are scheduled home and away in alternating years and switching would jumble the schedules for next year and the following years, he said.
Leetonia's high school and stadium were demolished this spring because construction of the district's new kindergarten-through-12th-grade facility was completed last year.
Demolition of the stadium had to be done this spring or the district would lose the state money that paid for it, he said.
The new stadium has home seating for about 1,100, bleacher seating across the field for about 700 visiting fans, a press box, lighting and a scoreboard.
Arrangements
Inchak also said that using the old field as a practice field was a better solution than the practice field used last year. He did not believe the practice field used last season would withstand another season and still be safe for the players to use without risk of injury.
The team's previous practice field was lost to construction.
Leetonia will pay the host schools $125 per game to use their fields.
The host schools will operate the concession stands; Leetonia will get the gate receipts, he said. Leetonia booster clubs will also take their game ball and 50/50 raffles, program and souvenir sales on the road for "home" games.
The frequent and heavy rainfall the past several months has delayed stadium construction by about six weeks.
The season opens Aug. 21 against Mineral Ridge at East Palestine.
The team will play Western Reserve at East Palestine on Aug. 30, then Jackson-Milton at United Local on Sept. 6 and United at United on Sept. 12.
If needed, the games at Crestview will be against Southern on Oct. 4 and Lisbon Oct. 11.
Crews put a layer of topsoil on half the field last week, and then it rained, Inchak said, adding that once sod is in place, about 30 more days are needed before the field can be used.
Four contractors are involved in the construction and each has other projects also delayed by the wet weather, he said.
The stadium construction is being paid by state and local funding.
Leetonia voters in 1998 approved borrowing $1.6 million for a school construction project.
The Ohio School Facilities Commission approved $15 million for the project, which included construction of a kindergarten-through-12th-grade facility and athletic fields.