Clairton seeking donations to renovate 93-year-old football stadium

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, August 18, 2023 | 8:55 PM

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Before next football season, Clairton’s nearly century-old stadium could undergo a major renovation with new seats, locker rooms and restrooms, artificial turf, modern lighting and a brickwork entrance.

But first, organizers need to raise $3 million in donations, a campaign announced Friday as the high school team held media day at Neil C. Brown Stadium. In the future, the renovated field might have a new namesake, maybe after a generous corporation or famous graduate willing to support the cause financially, said Roger Tachoir, president of Clairton Bears Academic and Athletic Association.

Contractors could break ground as soon as March and have the renovated stadium available for next football season, Tachoir said, if the funds become available and everything goes as planned. According to the CBAAA, the total project was estimated at $6.6 million, and the school district could borrow up to $3.5 million.

“We have to raise the money and get this done,” said Tachoir, a retired Clairton math teacher. “Because if we don’t do it now, it’ll never get done.”

U.S. Steel, which owns the nearby Clairton Coke Works, is expected to support the project “big time,” Tachoir said, but added that organizers need additional donations from corporations and individuals.

The CBAAA is a non-profit group founded in 1994 after the state classified Clairton as a financially distressed city.

There have been talks for years about renovating the stadium, but this latest effort took shape in the last year or so, Tachoir said. An artist’s rendering of the future stadium was revealed Friday. Rather than tear the concrete stands down, the plans calls for it to be renovated.

“I’m glad we’re able to have an event like this to get it kicked off, and let everyone know that we’re serious about doing it,” football coach Wayne Wade said. “It’s been in the makings for three or four years. I think we’re here. I think everyone’s on the same page and wants to get it done.”

Wade said his favorite part of the renovation will be the installation of artificial turf. At times in the past, the current grass surface forced the football team to find an alternate venue for playoff games.

“The turf really benefits the kids in the community,” Wade said. “When we get into playoff games and the grass is beat up and we have to go away, we lose fans because they can’t travel.”

The artificial surface also will allow more frequent use by more teams.

“If we played two or three weeks in a row on Friday night and our little league program plays Saturday or Sunday morning, by the next week the field’s gone,” Wade said. “If you get a good rain day, we can’t even practice.”

The school brought the football team, cheerleaders and band together for the media day event and announcement.

Clairton senior quarterback Michael Wright called it “a little heartbreaking” that he won’t get to play in the renovated stadium, but said he was happy for the underclassmen, including his younger brother, Donte.

“It gives you more energy,” sophomore Donte Wright said of the planned renovations. “We deserve it. Now we’ve got to go harder, to show people why we deserve it.”

Along with Tachoir, also speaking at Friday’s event were Clairton mayor Richard Lattanzi, state Sen. James Brewster, state Rep. Matt Gergely, school superintendent Tamara Allen-Thomas and school board president Richard Livingston.

“The stadium is 93 years old. Like everything, it needs to be remodeled and replenished,” Livingston said. “Every vote that we’ve had in the school board has supported Mr. Tachoir’s idea 9-0.”

Aliquippa, another WPIAL team with an old stadium, renovated its facilities from the ground up in recent months. Wade said he followed along with the progress there from a distance.

“I’ve been in conversation with (Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield) about this for the last couple of years,” Wade said. “It’s exciting to see what they have, and what we could possibly have.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Clairton