Eggerss Stadium unique football facility

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

It’s a high school football stadium that is unique in many ways. While located in downtown Van Wert, some say Eggerss Stadium resembles a small college stadium with its sheer amount of concrete along the home side, the concrete wall, and its seating capacity (over 3,000).

It also has its share of issues, including the condition of the bleachers on the visitors’ side, no on-site home locker room, the tiny press box, and a lack of ample parking spaces.

Those issues, along with other factors, have led a specially formed committee to study the potential future of the 80-year-old facility. The committee is in the process of compiling a community survey designed to give residents an opportunity to comment on the stadium.

Ultimately, the committee will study the results of the survey, along with differing plans to renovate the stadium or seek a new athletic complex at the high school. The athletic complex would include a football stadium, baseball and softball diamonds and other facilities. The committee is also tasked with studying a cost analysis of both plans before making a recommendation to the Board of Education.

The history of Eggerss Stadium dates back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s government-funded Works Progress Administration. The WPA provided jobs to millions of depression-era Americans who were unable to find work. Examples of large-scale WPA projects include Camp David, Dealey Plaza in Dallas, and LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

Smaller-scale projects include schools, post offices, public libraries, and at least two other football stadiums in Ohio — Strobel Field in Sandusky and the Rubber Bowl in Akron.

The WPA provided money for workers to build the stadium, and Hans A. Eggerss, inventor of the fiber drum and founder of the former Continental Can Company in Van Wert, loaned money to the school system for materials, leading local school officials to name the facility H.A. Eggerss Stadium in his honor.

Construction of the stadium began in 1935, and was finished in time for the following football season. It’s believed the total cost of the stadium came in under $100,000.

Van Wert High School’s yearbook, The Excalibur, for that year reads:

“Nineteen hundred thirty six marks the beginning of a new era in Van Wert’s football history. The old era was brought to a close by the team of 1935 winning the league championship for the first time.”

“Inspired by this record, the new stadium, new coaches, and the splendid cooperation that was given by the faculty, student body, and the citizens of Van Wert, the team of 1936 marched undefeated to the second league championship in two years.”

“The stadium was fittingly dedicated on September 18 with the Cougar machine winning from Fort Wayne South 13-0.”

All other accounts had Van Wert winning the opening game 12-0, and the Cougars went on to finish the 1936 season with seven wins, two non-league losses, and a scoreless tie against Bluffton.

The league championships mentioned in The Excalibur pre-date Van Wert’s time in the Western Buckeye League. The Cougars officially joined the WBL in 1940.

Over the years, Eggerss Stadium has seen its share of exciting times, including five league championships in the 1940s, and seven more in the 1950s. It was also home to Van Wert’s 2000 Division III state runner-up team.

Now, only time will tell its fate.