The Plymouth Big Red is a playoff football team for the first time in school history. And what makes it even more special is that they get to host the first round playoff game on their home turf, but a number of challenges could have changed their first playoff game.
Plymouth High School used to sit on the grounds of Mary Fate Park off of state Route 61, right in the middle of town. In the early 1950s, a football field was constructed in the park less than a quarter of a mile from where the high school stood. To this Saturday, games are still played in Mary Fate Park.
Plymouth has since built a new school in 2002 on state route 603 between Plymouth and Shiloh. After the new school was built, there was not enough money in the budget to build a sports complex on school grounds. Responsibility fell to the athletic booster club to raise funds for the construction of the complex.
That effort has now spanned 12 years. The Big Red has made the OHSAA football playoffs for the first time ever. Many of the wins that got them there were won at what locals refer to as the “Pit” at Mary Fate Park.
However, because the field that has had only minor updates since the 1950s and there was a possibility that Plymouth would have to play their game on a neutral site. The facilities are showing significant signs of age.
“I was weighing my options,” Plymouth High School Athletic Director Andrew McFarland said. “We discussed playing at a neutral site, talked about what we needed in order to actually play the game at home, and it was almost out of our control. I thought we were going to have to move the game.”
According to McFarland, lighting was the biggest issue under consideration. Earlier in the season, the Big Red played host to the St. Paul Flyers in a highly anticipated match up between top 10 teams in the state. The game was delayed an hour because the lights failed to turn on. The school had to call in an electrician to manually turn the lights on at the bypass on the top of the pole. They have since been fixed, but the lights are still outdated and aren’t the only part of the complex that is less than ideal.
“It wasn’t the only obstacle; the visitor’s bleachers are as old as this field,” McFarland added. “We are getting some roll away bleachers for the playoff game and we are going to host it no matter what it takes.”
That means Plymouth Big Red will still enjoy full home field experience as they play host to the Lucas Cubs in the Pit at Mary Fate Park on Saturday evening. But for their football home, the saga is far from complete.
A New Home
The future is bleak for the “Pit.” The aging process marches on and the coming Ohio winter will take its toll and age the stadium further. The effort for a new home is still underway.
Headed by the Plymouth Athletic Booster Club, the Plymouth Football Field Project has the goal of building a football stadium on school grounds. Underway for years, the effort is finally gaining some traction.
“We have a $30,000 press box, field house, score board, and goal posts already,” Plymouth Athletic Booster President Jason Porter said. “We have $60,000 right now from private donations that will be going towards lights and bleachers. Now, it’s not enough to get all of it, but it will go to good use. I received a price quote for lights that is better than I ever expected for the quality.”
The project will also use existing home bleachers at Mary Fate Park are designated for use in the Big Red’s new home as visitors bleachers. But the new home field is still short funding to bring the project to a conclusion.
“I would say that we are close to $60,000 away from playing at the new field. We have potential donations coming in that will get us close,” Porter said. “We are still a long way from a completed stadium.”
With additional weathering from another winter at Mary Fate Park, Plymouth might have to settle for a playable field before a state-of the art stadium can be completed. According to Porter and Plymouth high School Principal Amanda Mahon, the total amount still needed come completion is approximately one million dollars.
That estimate includes bleachers, concrete for sidewalks and bleachers, lighting, fencing, concession stand, restroom, landscaping, sound system, and an all-weather track. In a community whose average annual income is less that $25,000 per year, the Athletic Booster Club has seen slow progress in raising the nearly seven figure sum to complete the project.
After watching Madison Comprehensive and STARTEK partner up helping Madison finish a $730,000 project in exchange for naming rights to the stadium, Mahon says the school is open to partnering with a local business to bring Plymouth’s football Friday nights to a new home.
“While this may be a lot of money, the sponsors would provide a great community with the best kids an opportunity to support the football team on a brand new field with facilities that have never been available to Plymouth or other schools playing here,” Mahon added. “We have never had locker rooms for either team to escape the elements during halftime. Just that alone would be one of the biggest benefits I can think of.”
Each sponsorship district’s board of education but Mahon says the school would entertain offers of support ranging from more traditional signage sponsorships to facility and naming rights. In the end, the result is still the same, change is needed.
“The kids deserve a better complex and it would be great to provide them with a track. Its always about the kids,” Mahon said.
