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The Allegheny Valley School Board is approaching crunch time on deciding where the Springdale Dynamos will play football next season.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, the district will consider hiring a design professional to map out the development of a football/soccer facility at the high school and approving a request for proposals on building a multiuse field.
That action comes as discussions with Springdale officials on using the borough’s Veterans Memorial Field on Lincoln Street for home football games have stagnated.
“I don’t want our kids playing football at Burrell or Freeport. I want them playing here,” school board member Larry Pollick said at the board’s agenda meeting this week.
The Dynamos play “home” games at Burrell or Freeport after the board voted to terminate the Veterans Memorial Field lease with the borough at the end of last year. The field had been home to the Springdale High School football team since 1939.
Back and forth
An ongoing issue with the instability of a stadium wall that is leaning into the bleachers appeared to be the catalyst for that action.
However, Superintendent Pat Graczyk said the wall was not necessarily the pivotal issue, and there were some others, which he did not detail.
“The only issue that we know of is that the wall is caving in,” Springdale Councilman Jason Overly said.
He and school board President Antonio Pollino said a return to Veterans Memorial Field is still a possibility.
Discussions with the borough “have been amicable and engaging on both sides,” Graczyk said. “We asked them for something in writing for the board to consider, but we haven’t heard anything back.”
He said the district had set a July deadline for the borough to propose a resolution.
“We’ve been talking with them for quite some time,” Graczyk said. “I believe the relationship is strong. We just haven’t heard anything back.”
When the district asked the borough to come up with a price for the lease, the borough was unable
to do that because it had not yet received a quote to repair the wall, Overly said.
Craig Alexander, the borough’s solicitor, sent district officials a letter in the summer requesting more time for the resolution because it had not gotten quotes to fix the wall. Overly said the district had not responded to that letter.
Overly said quotes for the project are due next week, and the borough anticipates awarding a bid for the project at its meeting in November.
Soccer boosters
welcome facility
Tom Loebig of Springdale, who is the father of a Springdale student-athlete, said whatever differences may exist between the borough and the district, the school board should “make nice” with the borough.
“Do it for the kids, that’s all I’m saying,” Loebig said, adding that Springdale officials have to believe the site would be better used for a football field than nothing.
Pollino said the board can’t do anything regarding Veterans Memorial Field unless the borough makes a proposal.
John Murray, another Springdale resident, was critical of school officials’ role in the matter.
“The reality of it is you guys knew two years ago that you weren’t going to have a field,” Murray told the board. “This is as much your fault as it is the borough’s because you didn’t plan for anything.”
Graczyk said the soccer field and the adjacent field used by the track team are in bad condition and something will have to be done regardless of the football issue. Designing the soccer field, which is larger than a football field, so that it also can be used for football is what the board is considering as a resolution.
A joint statement from the Springdale Boys and Girls Soccer Boosters said they both fully support investing in the school’s soccer program, “and that includes much needed and significant updates to the field and surrounding facilities.”
“This school year, there are 77 kids playing competitive soccer for our boys and girls junior high, junior varsity and varsity teams,” the statement said. “Soccer continues to be one of the few sports at our school that is growing, in part due to the strong youth program we have at Harmar Soccer Club and also due to the success of both varsity teams who regularly qualify for and advance through the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs.
“We are excited that there is talk of investing in the future of soccer at Springdale, and we hope that the board acts as an acknowledgment of our program’s many years of success.”
Time and money
Pollick said that, from what he’s heard from parents and what other schools have done, “I say, ‘Let’s get it done.’
“I want to be as responsible as possible, but there is a timeline here. Can we get his proposal done in a month?”
District spokeswoman Jan Zastawniak said the board is looking for the information to have something ready for the fall. Once they have the information, they will develop a timeline.
Board member Paula Jean Moretti said she favors a more measured approach.
“Do we want our athletes playing here? Yes, absolutely,” Moretti said. “But I want to do it the right way. I want to do the research and get the input from the parents.”
Anthony Canzian, the architect the board hired to work on the Colfax Upper Elementary School demolition project, was at the meeting, and Pollino asked for his advice.
“My suggestion would be to have a complete plan so that the whole thing works,” Canzian said.
Pollino took that advice and suggested adding a measure to the agenda to hire a design professional to come up with that plan, and the board agreed.
Meanwhile, board member Amy Sarno said there have been rumors circulating in the district that constructing a facility at the high school would result in a tax increase.
She said that is not true. Sarno said there is money for such a project in the capital improvement fund, which is separate from the district’s general fund for operations.
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