Eggerss Stadium ready for Friday night

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

All systems are a go for this Friday night.

The Van Wert Cougars varsity football team will open the home portion of 2023 schedule against WBL foe Bath and the Cougars will christen the brand new playing surface at the stadium.

Meanwhile, fans will be able to see a new look, not only with the new turf, but a much brighter look along the home side, along with improved safety, including hand rails.

While work has been going on since spring, crews have been working at a feverish pace this month to put the finishing touches on the first phase of renovations at the historic downtown stadium.

“Phase I has really been a great team project by everyone involved,” Bagley said. “I think our community is going to be really proud when they come out to our stadium on Friday night. We have last minute things being done like our fence around the stadium but for the most part, what people are going to see in our stands and on our field is a brand new product that they’ll be very proud of.”

“There was outstanding work on the Cougar Pride Wall, our scoreboard has new panels and new and improved graphics and obviously the concrete (portion) of the stadium looks brand new with gray paint.”

The artificial turf, which took about nine days to fully install and finish, could be considered the centerpiece of the stadium.

“We’re used to seeing a large crown and now we see a flat field that looks very classy with our new modern ‘VW’ in the middle,” Bagley said. “We really patterned it a lot after Ohio Stadium and their new turf. We’re just really pleased with how everything has come out.”

While waiting for the new turf to be installed in early August, Bagley admitted there were some nervous moments but he also said he was certain the necessary work would be done in time for the first home game of the season.

“When the weather turned in July and August – those months are usually bone dry in northwest Ohio – and it got really rainy and we lost some days but it was incredible to watch all the different companies that are working on the stadium come together,” he said. “There are a lot of things that are going to happen between now and Friday to get the stadium ready but was I nervous? Yes, but was I confident in the team we put together? Yes, and I was very confident we’d get it done.”

Phases II and II of the restoration project will be completed in 2024 and 2025. A related story on that work can be found here.