Wellsville's Nicholson Stadium Progress Made

It's gone. What stood for 75 years, mostly as the home stands, is now just a memory. When we stopped by this past Tuesday workers from X-treme Trucking were taking down the last section standing. Some of that action can be seen in the collage above. All that was left was the back wall and by the time we got there Tuesday most of it was gone.

Yesterday we swung past there and what we saw is in the last picture shown above. All the debris is cleaned up and the lot was filled in. All the equipment is gone and a temporary fence has been erected where that back wall once stood.

Last fall a section of the eastern side grandstands was closed off when it was discovered there were cracks and chunks of concrete beginning to fall away. That was just before the last home football game of the season in late October. Structural engineers were brought in after that for a thorough inspection and it was declared unsafe. The cost to renovate the grandstands was prohibitive and the Board of Education approved a contract to have it demolished at their February meeting. Safety for all concerned was the primary reason for the decision. It was a decision made with much regret but one that had to be made. The western side grandstands were demolished in 1995 for the same reason.

The stadium had its beginnings at the height of the Great Depression when members of Wellsville's Nicholson family donated the land to the School District for the construction of a new athletic facility. The land was part of the Nicholson family farm. Building was begun in 1935 with the grading and realigning the field and grass was sown. Grandstands of equal size on both sides of the field were built with the western side completed first. Each grandstand was 288 feet long and 38 feet deep with a seating capacity of 2,040 on both sides of the field. The grandstands were built with “adequate ramps to provide for rapid and easy exit” as noted in a Souvenir Program. The western side grandstands had dressing rooms with showers and other equipment located underneath. The stadium was built as part of FDR's Works Progress Administration.

Workers were scrambling to complete the eastern side stands to be ready for the annual Thanksgiving Day football match-up between Wellsville and East Liverpool. When that Souvenir Program was printed for that 1936 game it was noted that “all but some minor details such as the cinder track and proper fencing has been completed”. The top picture was taken from that program. That's what the eastern side looked like just before it was first used for the 1936 Turkey Bowl, as it was popularly called. The Wellsville Bengals recorded a 13-0 shut out over the visiting Potters in that game.

Plans are being made to replace the old grandstands with one similar to what is now on the western side. If all goes as hoped, it will have a seating capacity for 900 and will be the designated visitor's side. The western side has a seating capacity of 1,200 and starting with the 2011/2012 Football Season will become the home stands. Superintendent Rich Bereschik stated in a conversation we had on March 2 that the next step is to advertise for bids for engineering for the new grandstands. It hoped to have that ready for the Board's approval at the next meeting, Monday, March 21. Once engineered with specifications drawn up they will be ready to advertise for construction bids.

That 1936 Souvenir Program originally belonged to Anna Joseph of 327 Broadway. After marrying she became Anna Waite and a few years back gave the program to Wellsville Historical Society President Robert “Brassy” Beresford. Thanks for sharing Brass.

The old place will have a new look for the first home game this fall. Even with all the changes it will remain the Home of the Wellsville Tigers as it has been for the past 75 years.

ole nib