Clairton Football in early phases of massive stadium renovation

CLAIRTON, Pa. — Clairton Football is in the early phases of getting a massive stadium renovation, a project that’s been long overdue.

Channel 11′s Jenna Harner figured out just how much the efforts mean to the football team and the entire Clairton community.

“It’s crumbling. The cement is falling apart. The locker room underneath is full of water and a lot of damage in there. It’s hard to get grass to grow on this field,” said Roger Tachoir, the chairman of the renovation project.

Clairton is a powerhouse in the 1A division.

The Bears hold the second-most WPIAL championships in the league’s history.

Their field, Neil C. Brown Stadium, has seen a lot of that history.

By this time next season – the Clariton Bears are hoping to be playing on a brand new turf field thanks to a $6.6 million renovation project.

“It will bring the pride back to say you know we can have the same facilities as any other team and when we have to go away because of a playoff game because it’s raining. No, we don’t have to do that and we will come to Clairton and play on turf,” said Wayne Wade Jr., the head coach.

But this is so much more than just a much-needed facelift for the stadium.

Superintendent Tamara Allen-Thomas is making sure the players know their efforts in the classroom, and on the field are a driving force behind the renovation.

“I want them to be able to be the scholars on the field as well as off the field. This is the beginning of working together, learning how to corroborate and be able to make sure that they can make an impact. There’s other younger siblings like my man over here that we want to look up to and they need to be able to know that academics is the way,” Allen-Thomas said. “This is our way of saying we care about you. We know that this is something a long time coming and this is our thank you to you for all that you’ve done for us. And so by showing them that when hard work when you put the hard work in, these are the results of your hard work.”

Clairton hopes to break ground this March – all involved in the project know just how much this will mean to the community.

“It’s definitely going to be, like, bright to the community because people have been waiting for the stadium gonna get redone for years now. Like after the first state championship,” said Michael Wright, the team’s quarterback.

Superintendent Allen-Thomas shared with us a message to Clairton alumni as they continue to seek donations, saying, “We need you, this is not the future generation, it’s the ‘now’ generation. We need you to support them now, so they can be where some of you are.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2023 Cox Media Group