11/21/10
Grandstands
may be renovated or replaced
August 29, 2011 - Michael D. McElwain (mmcelwain@reviewonline.com)
, The Review
EAST
LIVERPOOL - With several athletic facility upgrades
completed or near completion, the East Liverpool Board
of Education is gearing up to tackle the biggest of
all - the grandstands at Patterson Field.
The
board voted unanimously to retain the services of A&I
Studio - an architect firm in East Liverpool headed
by Scott Shepherd - to conduct a "feasibility study"
and to give the board some options.
Shepherd
will also give some sort of cost estimate for each option
provided.
"We
are only going to see what the costs will be without
allowing the go-ahead for right now, right?" board
member Janice Martin asked Treasurer Todd Puster and
Superintendent James Herring.
"We
will see what he (Shepherd) suggests on what we have
to do. We're either going to have to renovate or tear
them down and rebuild," Puster said.
Once
known as West End Park, the plot of ground housing the
stadium was originally owned by Monroe Patterson (1853-1924),
a local industrialist who picked up an option on the
land then donated it to the local school system in December
of 1923, according to information from the East Liverpool
Historical Society.
The
site became known as the "Monroe Patterson Athletic
Field" and was officially dedicated on Nov. 15,
1924, during a game against Leetonia.
According
to Frank Dawson, the East Liverpool Potters football
historian, a second dedication took place on Nov. 10,
1928, when the football playing field was moved from
an east - west direction to a northeast - southwest
position. New fencing was added at that time along with
a large white monument, which actually housed a drainage
system, used when the Ohio River backs up on to the
playing surface and into the locker rooms.
On
Nov. 3, 1934, a third dedication took place at Patterson
Field after the construction of the 4,500-seat concrete
bleacher, according to information complied by Dawson.
In
1934, the grandstand was built at a cost of $73,000.
Built
with both federal and local funds, the home Patterson
Field grandstand is 110 yards long and houses all the
field maintenance equipment underneath along with the
home team locker rooms.
Puster
said the modern Patterson Field, and the grandstand,
was a Work Progress Administration
project.
"This
(Patterson Field) is an asset the district has had for
75 years," the treasurer noted.
But
the grandstand is now showing its age and starting to
deteriorate.
Back
in October, the East Liverpool Board of Education approved
getting a $2 million loan to upgrade some facilities
not connected with the school buildings reconstruction
project.
In
the initial loan discussions, then-Superintendent Ken
Halbert introduced a tentative plan for the $2 million
loan which included improvements to the Patterson Field
turf, office renovations at the Westgate complex for
school administrators, Mangano Track replacement and
gym seating upgrades among other items.
Those
projects, except for the Mangano Track upgrades which
are still underway, are complete.
Out
of the loan funds, $500,000 was tentatively earmarked
for Patterson Field grandstand improvements.
"We
have the funding to do that project should the board
vote to do that," Puster said, contingent upon
Shepherd's options and price estimates.
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