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Donations, pledges roll in for Rayen Stadium
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
Just a few weeks after announcement of a campaign to renovate Rayen Stadium, pledges and donations have been coming in.
Ed Matey, district athletic director and campaign committee members, said about $4,000 in donations have come into the district as well as pledges totaling about $35,000.
That’s in addition to the $1.2 million — $1 million allocated by the school board from money generated through the sale of bonds as part of the Ohio School Facilities Commission project to rebuild school buildings, and $200,000 from the Rayen Trust for naming rights to the stadium.
The campaign goal is $3 million.
“Academics is my first priority,” Superintendent Connie Hathorn said at a campaign kickoff luncheon Friday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Banquet Center. “But as an old football coach and player, I know how much athletics means to kids.”
When he was a high school quarterback, his father could only come to watch him play at home games, Hathorn told the audience.
“Imagine if we played all of our games away; he never would have seen me play,” he said.
All of East High School’s games were on the road this year.
The city schools have been without a home high school stadium since 1993.
The campaign committee hopes to raise the money and build the stadium in time for the start of the next football season.
Jim Tressel, former Ohio State University and Youngstown State University football coach, and the Rev. Dr. Lewis Macklin of Holy Trinity Baptist Church, are committee co-chairmen.
Tressel said that having home games is critical.
“Let’s make this thing happen in a hurry so at this time next year, we’ll have played a bunch of games at home for the young people of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley,” he said.
Dr. Macklin agreed that academics is priority one for the city schools but said some children require different paths to excel. For some children, it’s arts, for others, athletics, he said.
Pecchia Communications of Canfield is providing public relations services at no charge to the Rayen Stadium project.
To contribute to the project, visit www.rayenstadium.org, call 330-740-8773 or send a check, payable to the Rayen Stadium Renovation Fund, to Youngstown City School District, Rayen Stadium Renovation Fund, P.O. Box 550, Youngstown 44501-0550.