Bridgeport BOE Approves Fieldhouse Work Contract

BRIDGEPORT -- The pieces continue to fall into place for the revitalization project at Perkins Field inside Bill Jobko Stadium.

During a brief, but very productive, special meeting of the Bridgeport Exempted Village School District Board of Education on Tuesday night, the five-member panel unanimously approved a $388,000 contract with Colaianni Construction of Dillonvale for work on the fieldhouse, which has suffered damage from years of flooding at the Brookside facility along Big Wheeling Creek.

Colaianni Construction also built the new school building along National Road.

Superintendent of Schools Brent Ripley said work on the much-anticipated project will begin in late February.

"This project will start at the end of wrestling season. We timed it that way just because we want the wrestlers to be able to practice down there in the fieldhouse," he said. "We're excited about the improvements."

He said some of the project includes roof repairs to the existing cement block structure; installation of two ADA-compliant restrooms; and restructuring some areas to make the space more usable.

"Wrestling (practice) will still be down there and there will still be some weights for football players to lift with for now," Ripley added. "We're just trying to update some things and bring it up to speed code-wise. Those are just some of the requirements that we need to do.

"The locker room area is going to be restructured and there will be an officials room added," he continued. "There will also be shower areas for both teams."

Ripley also said the septic line running from the fieldhouse to the creek will be dug up and replaced.

"There had been some issues with it in the past, so we decided to go ahead and replace it while we’re doing all this work," he noted.

The officials room and visitors locker room were previously housed underneath the 100-year-old wooden grandstands that were razed in the summer of 2019. Football was last played on Perkins Field in 2017 and the grandstands were deemed unsalvageable the next spring by an engineering firm that cited "damage beyond repair from decades of flooding."

In related matters, workers from Jarvis, Downing & Emch of Wheeling started piecing together the new aluminum grandstands early Tuesday. The new stadium seating and press box cost the district $510,096. A new sound system will be installed for $20,000, with press box technology and site lighting coming in at approximately $40,000.

The total estimated repairs that the district will be covering is $1,077,141, including $213,045 for paving and fencing.

Work is expected to be complete so that the Bulldogs can play at the facility on Friday, Aug. 28 against Monroe Central.