LEETONIA Progress continues on football stadium

Bleachers, goal posts and the press box are in place.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- It's beginning to look a lot like football at Leetonia High School's new stadium, but it will be awhile yet before kickoff.
Schools Superintendent Tom Inchak didn't want to guess when the football stadium will be ready for play. Players can't take the field until sod has at least 30 days to take a firm hold in the topsoil. Laying sod will be one of the last things done, he said.
Workers have made progress during this stretch of warm, dry weather. The bleachers, press box, goal posts and scoreboard are in. There's no electric service yet, however.
The home grandstand seats about 1,100 fans, and the visitors bleachers about 700.
School officials had hoped to have the field ready for play this year, but construction had been delayed by excessive rain in the spring and summer.
The varsity football team has played its first four home games at East Palestine and United. If needed, the scheduled home games with Southern on Oct. 4 and Lisbon on Oct. 11 will be at Crestview High School.
Other sports
Meanwhile, work continues on the baseball and softball fields. The Leetonia Board of Education will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Room 20 of the Leetonia school complex to open bids and award contracts for fencing and dugouts for the baseball field.
The baseball and softball fields were lost to construction two years ago. The high school and football 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 have lost the state money that paid for the demolition, Inchak said.