With no agreement on use of Veterans Memorial Field, Allegheny Valley eyes converting soccer field on school grounds

The Allegheny Valley School District and Springdale officials can’t seem to come to an agreement over Veterans Memorial Field, so school officials are reviewing the possibility of having a football field on the district’s grounds.

Superintendent Pat Graczyk said Tuesday that despite the district’s work with the borough “demonstrating the district’s willingness to use Veterans Field, the borough has not responded to our request.

“Consequently, we must find a new location for Dynamo football.”

For years, Springdale High School football has been played at Veterans Field, located off Lincoln Street and owned by the borough.

In October 2022, the district terminated its lease with Springdale for use of the field. It expired at the end of the 2023-24 school year. District officials cite a leaning wall against the bleachers as a point of concern at the field.

Without a home field, the football team’s “home” games this year will be played at Freeport Area and Burrell high schools.

“The district is considering synthetic surfaces for our soccer field and plans to expand this project into a shared soccer and football stadium on school property,” Graczyk said. “We appreciate our partnership with the Springdale Borough and the time spent discussing the football field.”

“It’s important to mention this does not preclude us from working with the borough in the future, and (it) gives us the most flexibility as a district to provide a field for our student athletes.”

The school board reviewed a past quote from a surfacing company for the design and installation of a combined soccer and football field on high school property. Board members indicated they will ask that company for an updated quote and also will seek other quotes.

Councilman Jason Overly said Springdale and the school district had been negotiating a lease for the field over the summer. The district asked the borough to come up with a price for the lease, but the borough was unable to do so because it had not yet received a quote to repair the wall.

“We can’t negotiate a price without a price on the wall,” Overly said.

Overly said the borough had sent the district a letter notifying them that they were waiting on an estimate for the wall repair, and talks between the two bodies paused. He acknowledged the wall would be a costly fix and that the borough still has not received an estimate.

Overly was unsure why the district terminated the lease, saying it was only paying the borough $1 a year to use the facility.

He also said the borough is willing to work with the district regarding the field in the future.