{"id":210159,"date":"2026-09-16T20:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=210159"},"modified":"2026-09-16T20:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:33:30","slug":"friday-night-celebration-planned-at-eggerss-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/09\/16\/friday-night-celebration-planned-at-eggerss-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday night celebration planned at Eggerss Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A special pregame celebration is planned at Eggerss Stadium this Friday night. VW independent file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

90 years of football at Eggerss Stadium and a massive renovation project will be celebrated before Friday night\u2019s Western Buckeye League game between Van Wert and Defiance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former head coaches, along with contractors and donors will be honored during festivities that will begin at 6:30 p.m. A special game ball delivery, via a skydiver, is planned just before the game\u2019s 7 p.m. kickoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of Eggerss Stadium dates back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt\u2019s government-funded Works Progress Administration. The WPA provided jobs to millions of depression-era Americans who were unable to find work. Examples of large-scale WPA projects include Camp David, Dealey Plaza in Dallas, and LaGuardia Airport in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller-scale projects include schools, post offices, public libraries, and at least two other football stadiums in Ohio \u2014 Strobel Field in Sandusky and the Rubber Bowl in Akron. In many ways, Strobel Field resembles Eggerss Stadium, but is somewhat larger. The Rubber Bowl had fallen into disrepair and was demolished in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The WPA provided money for workers to build the stadium, and Hans A. Eggerss, inventor of the fiber drum and founder of the former Continental Can Company in Van Wert, loaned money to the school system for materials, leading local school officials to name the facility H.A. Eggerss Stadium in his honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction of the stadium began in 1935, and was finished in time for the following football season. It\u2019s believed the total cost of the stadium came in under $100,000. Some say it was modeled after Toledo Waite\u2019s football stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars won their very first game at Eggerss Stadium on September 18, 1936, defeating Fort Wayne South, but accounts of the final score are different. Some say 12-0, others say 13-0, but regardless, the Cougars won the game. Van Wert went on to finish the 1936 season with seven wins, two non-league losses, and a scoreless tie against Bluffton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars officially joined the WBL in 1940 and over the years, Eggerss Stadium has seen its share of exciting times. The list includes five league championships in the 1940s, and seven more in the 1950s. In all, Van Wert has won or shared 19 WBL football championships, with the latest being a co-championship with Wapakoneta in 2021. Eggerss Stadium was also home to Van Wert\u2019s 2000 Division III state runner-up team and the 2020 Division IV state championship team.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Eggerss Stadium in 1936. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In November of 2022, voters in the Van Wert school district overwhelmingly approved a bond issue to renovate the downtown stadium. Work began in 2023 and was done in four phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long list of work includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Concrete restoration to the home side and the Cougar Pride Wall<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fresh paint that made the stadium look brighter, plus sealing and waterproofing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Widened stairs and aisles on the home side and the installtion of hand rails, New goal post in each end zone.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A reburbished scoreboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The field itself was moved about six feet to the south, because it was never centered in the stadium. Once it was moved, artificial turf was installed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • New concrete under the home side of the stadium.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A renovated home locker toom, plus an athletic trainer area and space for coaches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • New restrooms on the home side, a new press box and a handicap accessible area directly in front of the press box, called Tyler\u2019s Landing, plus an elavator to the press box and Tyler\u2019s Landing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A new main entrance and ticket booth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Band bleachers behind the south end zone with storage, which will create more space for fans on the home side of the stadium.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A new concession stand and restroom area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor 90 years of football at Eggerss Stadium and a massive renovation project will be celebrated before Friday night\u2019s Western Buckeye League game between Van Wert and Defiance. Former head coaches, along with contractors and donors will be honored during festivities that will begin at 6:30 p.m. A special game ball delivery, via […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-topstory"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-24 05:03:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210159"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210172,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210159\/revisions\/210172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}