Where will Newport play their games next year?

[dshoe40]

Newport play their games next year?  

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

10 hours ago, dshoe40 said:

Newport play their games next year?  

I haven't been down past the stadium any time in recent weeks. Have they started demolition yet?

I believe when I last saw it reported, the plan I saw was to take the initial money approved by the school district and use that to demo the existing stands/pressbox and replace them. Then there would be money allotted at a later time to renovate the stadium itself - largely with the intent of shifting the field as needed to add lanes to their track.

Demo and earthwork really shouldn't take all that long, maybe 4-6 weeks, weather pending. And then it would be a matter of getting the foundations in place for the stands, building the stands, and placing the pressbox on top. It's been several years since I've seen a high school pressbox installed that wasn't completely pre-fabricated, so that's an extremely quick and easy process.

Lots of stands these days are really just kind of a big 'ol erector set, in reality, and are a pretty quick and straightforward construction process. Those don't generally include locker rooms, bathrooms, or concession stands beneath them, though, so I'm not sure if that's the avenue they're going to take for their stands - since the current, condemned stands provided locker room facilities for both teams beneath them. I haven't seen any plans or renderings to this point, so I'm not sure how they're intending to do everthing.

That said, I think they probably still have time to get the stands replaced prior to the start of the 2023 fall sports seasons.

[Breds82]

I drive by the stadium every day on the way home from work on 471. No demo on the outside of the stands seems to have started. My fear would be the football team losing momentum with not having a home field. I played in a lot of losing games there but absolutely loved the history behind Newport stadium (as well as the other river city stadiums). 

[Buck2]

10 hours ago, Breds82 said:

I drive by the stadium every day on the way home from work on 471. No demo on the outside of the stands seems to have started. My fear would be the football team losing momentum with not having a home field. I played in a lot of losing games there but absolutely loved the history behind Newport stadium (as well as the other river city stadiums). 

With what little momentum they have, I agree. Also, not idea for the youth league.

[Brcatz]

What about New Cath games?  I see Scott is playing them away at Cov Cath field.

[BigCat88]

Didn't they play all road games last year? Too bad they can't block off the stands and put some metal ones on the track on both sides until the problem gets fixed. A cool stadium with a lot of history!

[Tranquility Base]

I drove past Newport on 471 just a couple days ago and it still looks like they have done nothing to or near the field.    If I'm NewCath, my first calls are to Thomas More (although that would be tough because I believe Holy Cross uses that field as well) or Covington Catholic.  Maybe Newport heads up the hill and plays at Highlands for a season?

[Buck2]

With Newport going to 1a, they should have some positive momentum in the program. Hopefully it stops the downward spiral for the past two seasons. Does anyone have Newports schedule? You don’t see much program promoting on that end of things. 

[theguru]

Hopefully Newport (3 million dollars) according to Fox19.com:

“After the demolition has been completed, we will begin the site preparation for the installation of the new 1,500-seat bleachers,” the district’s Director of Facilities and Transportation Dennis Maines said. “Our goal for completion is generally late September or early October. Our first home game is scheduled for Sept. 22, and we are hoping we are advanced in our project timeline to keep that as a home game.”

[gchs_uk9]

Is Newport just redoing their stadium and track? When I was there a few years ago the turf field seemed fine.

[rjs4470]

2 hours ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Is Newport just redoing their stadium and track? When I was there a few years ago the turf field seemed fine.

Yes. The field itself is fairly new.

[Tupac Shu-Coors Light]

Saw some construction vehicles down there when driving by today. Seems like it is getting moving soon. 

[theguru]

40 minutes ago, Tupac Shu-Coors Light said:

Saw some construction vehicles down there when driving by today. Seems like it is getting moving soon. 

Welcome to BGP @Tupac Shu-Coors Light!

[dshoe40]

The demo has started just drove by.

Edited May 10, 2023 by theguru

[Breds82]

Drove by on 471 on my way home from work around 7pm and there is a huge machine in the middle Of the stadium. Gave me a bit of a punch in the gut. I know my teams lost a lot of games there (3 against the Wildcats), but I love history and tradition. It wasn’t a flashy stadium but it was built in a time Americans needed work. I loved walking down the steps on the north side of the stadium walking from my grandparents house to watch the Breds take on whoever, and leaning over the wall to the tunnel and smacking the varsity players on the helmet. I loved the ride from school to the stadium, the Wildcat fans yelling at us, even when we weren’t playing them, on the way to the parking lot and the click clack of our cleats down the drive way to the stadium. I can still hear that sound. It’s a much needed rebuild, I hope all future players can appreciate the history that has happened there since the depression.