Stadium repairs to affect events

School officials said
engineers called the
stairwell repairs essential.

By JORDAN COHEN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

NILES — Major repairs to Bo Rein Stadium will require Niles McKinley High School to move this spring’s graduation indoors and relocate the annual Relay for Life to a nearby practice field.

Schools Superintendent Rocco Adduci said the stadium, home of the school’s Red Dragons football team, has safety issues and that means the facility will be closed until repairs are completed.

“We have to fix the stairwells and make other repairs, but we expect to have the work done in time for the start of football season,” Adduci said.

Last summer, a study of the stadium by Seidler Engineering of Youngstown concluded that it is structurally safe for crowds but that the stairwell repairs were essential. Repairs are being completed in three phases: steel reinforcement, steel fabric and concrete.

Adduci estimated the cost at $150,000 to $180,000 and expects bids for repairs to go out in February. Paying for the project will require some tough decisions, he said.

“The schools don’t have a credit card and that means we just have to find the money,” Adduci said. “I’m going to have to cut somewhere to get it.”

Athletic Director Joe Barber said Bo Rein Stadium has had ongoing maintenance since its completion in 1967. The facility seats 12,000.

Since the stadium will be closed in the spring, graduation will be held inside the high school’s War Memorial Gymnasium.

This will be the second consecutive year for an indoor commencement. Adduci said inclement weather last June forced school officials to move the ceremony into the gym.

Relay for Life, which had always been inside the stadium, will be moved to the practice football field and city sidewalks.