Keeping Portsmouth’s historic Spartan Stadium up and restoring it to its former glory is expensive and the city is looking to turn that responsibility over to Shawnee State University. The school says it will transform the area into a world-class sports destination.
Council has scheduled legislation transferring the stadium, Branch Rickey Park, and the sports fields west of the Stadium, including the softball fields to the university’s service department for a first reading at the November 27 meeting of Portsmouth City Council.
According to the proposed ordinance, the university will still allow people to use the facilities as long as activities don’t interfere with events planned by the school. SSU thinks there’s great potential to develop the area and says they are prepared to give the project the attention it needs.
According to SSU “The project presents a significant opportunity for Shawnee State to develop an athletic complex for its varsity team sports, intramural and student recreation, community outreach, and youth sports leagues. Such a project would provide much needed facilities to support SSU and improve a large area on the City’s waterfront ripe for development.”
University President Eric Braun said they plan to renovate the park and build a world-class softball stadium. However, that project does not include using the stadium for football. “We are committed to exploring uses for Spartan Stadium that include soccer, track and field, and stage performances. We are not pursuing football at this time.” SSU says it wants to balance preservation with constructing modern facilities and will make plans for the renovations public once the transfer is completed.