WK1 Nelsonville-York @ Trimble (8/26)

[93Bulldog]

Portable bleachers cost money! Money that needs to be going toward a permanent sollution. Play the game at Athens, week 2 is at Belpre. That gives you a full three extra weeks to solve the problem.

[noreply66]

What have they been doing the last nine months?

[tomcat fan]

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw portable bleachers brought in for week 1

Which means most people will be paying 5 bucks to stand the entire time..........

Bunch of ppl stand anyways, I've only sat for 1 high school game in my life and that was the state championship game a few yrs ago

[tomcat fan]

Portable bleachers cost money! Money that needs to be going toward a permanent sollution. Play the game at Athens, week 2 is at Belpre. That gives you a full three extra weeks to solve the problem.

From what I heard it will cost money to play at Athens too

[Orange and Brown]

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw portable bleachers brought in for week 1

Which means most people will be paying 5 bucks to stand the entire time..........

Bunch of ppl stand anyways, I've only sat for 1 high school game in my life and that was the state championship game a few yrs ago

I stood that entire game lol I was afraid I'd freeze to the seat if I sat down lol

[Ttomcat99]

I dont see how the money can be raised - and stadium fixed - before ny game in two weeks. Which begs the question: where will it be played?

Hopefully Athens. I would say Ohio University but I think August is supposed to be a dead period for NCAA now. Saw on Yappi about UC not doing week 1 games with the big Cincinnati high schools. Idk how true

Cant do Ohio University anymore. The goal post regulations changed a few years back thats why there hasnt been any high school games there in a while

[Raider6309]

I dont see how the money can be raised - and stadium fixed - before ny game in two weeks. Which begs the question: where will it be played?

Hopefully Athens. I would say Ohio University but I think August is supposed to be a dead period for NCAA now. Saw on Yappi about UC not doing week 1 games with the big Cincinnati high schools. Idk how true

Cant do Ohio University anymore. The goal post regulations changed a few years back thats why there hasnt been any high school games there in a while

Athens played there in 2010 and 2014 at Ohio state. 2015 Akron Hoban played Akron SVSM at Akron university

[Orange and Brown]

The Athens Messenger had an article about the stadium but I don't have a subscription so didn't get to read it.

[Orange and Brown]

I don't think putting in those tiny baseball bleachers around the field is a viable option. It may be the only option if they want home games but it's going to be a pain in the ass for fans.
We will all find out soon enough.

[Raider6309]

The Athens Messenger had an article about the stadium but I don't have a subscription so didn't get to read it.

For 80 years, Glouster Memorial Stadium has stood as a resolute, unchanging, gray monolith perched right alongside Route 13 in Glouster.

The home to Friday night football and the Trimble Tomcats, the stadium has become a part of the community’s tradition and heritage.

And now, it may be about to be demolished.


The existing concrete-and-steel grandstand is too severely damaged by the ravages of time to make repair a viable option, Trimble Supt. Scott Christman said Friday.

Christman received a follow up report from an engineer on Friday, the same professional who looked at the facility two weeks ago and advised the school to keep people off the structure until further evaluation was done.

“He did not deem it unsafe then,” Christman said. “But he did tell us ‘No one on this or under this.’”

Christman was informed of the the general scope of the follow up report on Friday. The official report was not finished as of Friday afternoon, the superintendent said. But the news was not encouraging.

“(The engineer) doesn’t think he’ll be able to recommend any structure repair to the facility. The extent of the deterioration in the concrete is too severe, and that has led to damage to steel framework underneath,” Christman explained.

“He said it is so unsound at this point that a major repair would not be a good decision.”

The district has already begun working on trying to find a way to still host games at the facility this fall. Trimble begins the 2017 high school football season on Saturday, Aug. 26 with a scheduled home game against county rival Nelsonville-York.

The plan, Christman said, is to import either permanent or temporary bleachers to place on the sideline opposite the current steel grandstand. The field’s scoreboard will have to be moved to accommodate the seating on that sideline.

There’s no guarantee that the arrangements can be made and completed by the season opener. Christman said both Athens and Nelsonville-York — two neighboring districts — have indicated they would allow Trimble to use their facilities “at cost” to host games if needed.

Christman indicated the current grandstand would be fenced off — much like it is currently — if seating could be brought in and some games played at the site this fall.

The goal is to play as many games as possible at the site this season. Christman doesn’t know if hosting all five of the scheduled home games is realistic.

“We’ve started the process of locating bleachers for the opposite side,” he said. “I like to think by game five we should be able to have everything in place and be able to have things set up to where we could play our games there.”

The recent developments at the stadium have come as the Trimble Facilities Improvement Committee is in the midst of a year-long effort to raise funds and come up with a plan to renovate or replace the facility.

The group has been looking at securing donations or corporate sponsorships to address the long-term needs of the stadium, and improve the fields and courts used by district students across the board.

Dennis Osborne, the committee’s vice president and Trimble’s athletic director, said this committee is not rooted in a search for public, taxpayer money.

“The committee has been working since, really January, to come up with ideas for funding and how to improve facilities in our district. It isn’t just a football stadium committee,” Osborne said.

“We’ve been working on this for months, but this just happened and now everything has intensified.”

“We’re trying to raise funds, looking into corporate partners, that kind of thing. This is NOT a levy deal. (A levy) is NOT going to happen,” he continued. “People pay enough in property taxes as it is.”

Christman said the district was exploring prospects for repairing the concert grandstand when the current state of the facility was discovered. In the process of finding a construction company for the project, the district found out the state of the stadium was worse than anticipated.

“Some (firms) said it was outside their realm of expertise. One company wouldn’t submit a bid because they believed it would be way too much,” Christman explained. “We had one company believe they could do it, but required a full engineering test before they would proceed. That initial test led to where we are now.”

Right now, an orange fence has been set up to block all points of entry to the concrete grandstand. The Tomcats’ football team knows it has a schedule to play, but doesn’t know just where some of those games will be.

The district is trying to come up with an arrangement for some games to be played at the facility. And the committee is trying to ramp up its efforts to fund a long-term solution.

Some of those answers could come this week. The committee will hold a special public forum on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. in Bill White Gymnasium at Trimble High School. Members of the committee will be on hand to answer public questions about what’s next for Glouster Memorial Stadium and the committee’s search for funding for a replacement facility there.

The stadium has been a fixture in the collection of small communities that make up the Trimble district since the project was initially completed in 1938. It’s remained, essentially, the same facility ever since.

“We know it’s a special place that has been a part of our community for a long time. Anyone who has ever played there has an attachment to it and it’s important to us and the community,” Christman said.

“If we do take it down, one thing we have to do is make sure that exterior wall represents the old stadium in some way. We have to do that at least.”

Anyone interested in making a donation to the Trimble Facilities Improvement Committee should call the district office at 740-767-4444.

[Ttomcat99]

Hopefully Athens. I would say Ohio University but I think August is supposed to be a dead period for NCAA now. Saw on Yappi about UC not doing week 1 games with the big Cincinnati high schools. Idk how true

Cant do Ohio University anymore. The goal post regulations changed a few years back thats why there hasnt been any high school games there in a while

Athens played there in 2010 and 2014 at Ohio state. 2015 Akron Hoban played Akron SVSM at Akron university

Thats just what i was told the other day when i mentioned about playing at OU

[Raider6309]

You won't make any money at OU

[NYBuckeye96]

I heard the NY vs. Trimble game will be played at Athens High School.

[Stone Cold]

Why not just play it at Nelsonville and switch next years game to Trimble? Hopefully they will have the situation resloved by then!!!

[NYBuckeye96]

Why not just play it at Nelsonville and switch next years game to Trimble? Hopefully they will have the situation resloved by then!!!

I heard that Hocking College has Boston Field reserved the day of the game.

[Stone Cold]

Why not just play it at Nelsonville and switch next years game to Trimble? Hopefully they will have the situation resloved by then!!!

I heard that Hocking College has Boston Field reserved the day of the game.

Maybe play it on a Friday? Beats giving up gate and concessions to another school i would think. Im sure it will get handled!

[Orange and Brown]

Why not just play it at Nelsonville and switch next years game to Trimble? Hopefully they will have the situation resloved by then!!!

I heard that Hocking College has Boston Field reserved the day of the game.

Maybe play it on a Friday? Beats giving up gate and concessions to another school i would think. Im sure it will get handled!

I'm not so big on flipping the games. We have our schedule balence with 5 home games and 5 away games and I'd like it to stay that way personally.

[Orange and Brown]

Why not just play it at Nelsonville and switch next years game to Trimble? Hopefully they will have the situation resloved by then!!!

I heard that Hocking College has Boston Field reserved the day of the game.

Hocking plays AT Hiram College on the 26th

[Attack]

Folks, due to all the conjecture and rumors floating around and being posted I'm going to post this one last time. We are making plans to allow us to play all of our games at Glouster Stadium. If that changes I will post an update. Until then, that is our plan.

[mattash]

Going to be a great game.