No. 1 story of ’22: Voters say yes to Eggerss

Editor’s note: The VW independent is publishing what it judges to be the Top 10 local stories of 2022. Articles featuring three top stories have been published Wednesday-Friday and the feature concludes today with No. 1.

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

No. 1: voters approve Eggerss Stadium improvement issue

Months of campaigning paid off with the May 3 passage of a bond issue to renovate and improve historic Eggerss Stadium.

More than two-thirds of voters in the Van Wert City School District cast ballots in favor of plans to renovate the downtown stadium. In fact, the 20-year, 1.15 mill bond issue was approved by a 72-28 percent margin. It passed in every single precinct in the district, including Ohio City.

“The Van Wert City Schools and Board of Education are appreciative of the overwhelming support in the passage of the bond issue for improvements to Eggerss Stadium,” Superintendent Mark Bagley said once the results were announced. “We also want to thank the Stadium Committee led by John White and Eric McCracken for their leadership during the last several months.”

“After months of intensive work to educate and inform our community, it is very rewarding to realize the benefits that are to come with a stadium renovation,” White said. “The community will benefit in so many ways and this is a huge win for Van Wert. We are excited for Van Wert City Schools to proceed with fine tuning renovation plans and ultimately beginning work on the stadium complex.”

The bonds, which sold quickly, generated $5 million to renovate the stadium, which has been in use since 1936. The list of planned improvements includes concrete restoration; artificial turf, which is scheduled to be installed in spring/summer of 2023; widening aisles on the home side and the welcome addition of handrails; handicapped seating and accessibility; a new concession stand; larger restrooms, and a new home locker room and storage, all under the stadium.

Other scheduled improvements include new bleachers for the Cougar Pride Marching Band in the south end zone; a new concession building with restrooms and storage in the south end zone; an expanded home side press box; additional parking, and preservation of the Cougar Pride Wall.

The entire project could take as long as three years to complete, but football games will be played in the stadium as scheduled.