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Construction set to begin on new football stadium in Boardman
BOARDMAN
Plans to begin construction this spring on a new football stadium on Boardman High School’s campus are set to proceed, project leaders say.
“We’ve got great momentum going,” said Tim Saxton, director of operations for Boardman schools. “We’ll be ready by August.”
“Construction is continuing, and we’re 90 percent confident we’re going to be able to play [varsity football games] there this year,” said Bill Bonte, Boardman Booster Club president.
This phase of the $3.7 million project to replace the stadium at Market Street behind Center Middle School will include construction of a press box, 4,200 home seats and a scoreboard, at a cost of about $1.6 million. The project’s first phase, completed at the end of last summer, added new turf to the stadium site off Nisonger Road. Project leaders plan to add a 3,000-seat visitor section and a building with concessions, additional restrooms and a locker room.
The plan to build a new stadium arose after decades at the 1930s-built Market Street facility, which school officials say is costly to maintain and does not adequately accommodate games and crowds.
Funding for the new stadium comes entirely from private donations, mostly from corporate sponsors, raised by the booster club.
The fundraising effort moved forward last week with a donation from Akron Children’s Hospital of the Mahoning Valley, which will be the main scoreboard sponsor. Bonte declined to say how much the hospital donated, but said the scoreboard is reserved for “major” donors who give $25,000 or more. Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, Cocca’s Pizza, Cortland Bank and Merrill Lynch also are scoreboard sponsors.
Bonte said the club likely will announce more major donations in the coming weeks, such as for a $500,000 sponsorship of the field.
“I think our success has prompted people to know that it’s a reality. It’s going to happen,” he said. “We hope that every week to 10 days we can announce an additional corporate sponsor.”
The club is looking for a $1 million stadium sponsor in addition to a field sponsor, and still has naming rights available for other parts of the facility.
The Spartans’ first season at the new stadium will include a few games that Saxton says will fill the stadium, such as Cardinal Mooney and Canfield games.
“That’s been our cross-224 rivalry that’s been 30 years in the making. I think we’ll have a big crowd,” he said of the Canfield game.
Construction is set to begin in the spring, Saxton said. For information on how to donate, go to www.boardmanstadium.org.