GREENVILLE—The old Harmon Field Football Stadium is being demolished to make way for new seating on both the home and visitors’ sides of the field.
“There are multiple steps or phases to the process to get from now until there is a new stadium,” said Greenville Athletic Director Aaron Shaffer. “Our kids and fans will have updated, modern amenities as good as anybody around.”
The visitors’ side of the old stadium was down Wednesday morning as the demolition contractor removed debris from the property.
“Right now, we are in the demolition phase,” Shaffer noted. “They have most of the visitors’ side on the ground, and that work will continue. Once they’re done with the cleanup and completion of the demo on the visitors’ side, they will move to the home side, and a very similar process will begin.”
“Once we get all that cleaned up and all the foundations and footings removed, then we’ll have a new set of contractors come in, and they will begin doing the pre-work for the new stadium, pouring concrete and pads and pilings and all the things needed for the new bleachers to sit on,” added Shaffer. “Those processes won’t be short or quick processes, but all-in-all, you get the demo, the prep work, and later this spring and summer, the bleachers will go up. Then the finish work of concrete, fencing, and some asphalt work and some ticket booths and things like that will all go up, so this is the beginning of it.”
Driving east on Harmon Drive, it is very noticeable with the Marling Band Shell in view now that the visitors’ side is down.
“It’s kind of crazy, some of the site lines you get now that the old stadium is down,” Shaffer said. “It is a little bittersweet. It’s a long time the stadium has been here; it’s a unique setting. It’s sad to see it go in many ways, but I’m excited for what the future holds with the new stadium and the direction of our football programs.”
Greenville City Schools recently held OHSAA football playoff games until the 2024 tornado ripped through the heart of Greenville, halting the games.
“We’re proud of our facility, and we’re proud of our community,” Shaffer stated. “Hopefully, we’ll have the opportunity to host playoff games here again, potentially during those third and fourth rounds we did before the tornado. The facility will certainly be more accommodating than it was before, but we’re looking forward to those opportunities.”
With the new Jennings Center Track & Field Complex and upon completion of the new Greenville Alumni Stadium Football complex, Greenville has a facility it can be proud of.
“For a school our size, we certainly have the facilities outdoors once this is updated,” Shaffer said. “We have the fieldhouse; the restrooms are second to none. We have a great track facility, so for a school our size, we definitely made a lot of gains and strides in updating our facilities.”
Coach Shaffer thanked the local community, businesses, family, and friends who have made the upgrades possible.
“From the very beginning up through now, it’s been a combination of donations, private support, and then school district funds and taxpayer funds,” he said. “We are thankful for all of the support that we have received. It’s not an easy process to get here. It’s a lot of time, effort, and money to get to a place we’ve gotten to, so we are very thankful for the support of our community members, our alumni, our Alumni Association, and some of the people who have donated through the years. Some of those people have been repeat donors and have donated to the athletics and other organizations in our district, whether it be music or art, and the Schools Foundation.”
“With all those things, we’re very blessed to have great community support and the work of our superintendent, school board, and everybody who has worked on these projects,” Shaffer concluded. “We are blessed to have that support here.”
