Shelby-When Scott Harvey was on a playoff tour at WW Ski Resort in Shelby, he knew what he had to do.

The dilapidated concrete bleachers of the stadium have collapsed to a more unsafe condition than before the start of the season. As the schedule for the new stadium built on the Shelby High School campus is about to be completed in the 2023 season, Harvey, the Shelby School District Director of Architecture and Fields, had to make a difficult decision.

The timeline had to be advanced a year.

On Tuesday, the updated timetable was approved, and work began at a faster pace. The Whippets should be able to play football in the new stadium in 2022, and hope that week 3 will be the first game.

"We started to worry very much about the situation in the stands at the Skyles Stadium," Harvey said. "We have set up a new stand at the new venue and the visiting team will be completed this month, so we just feel that we need to postpone the timetable and leave early because of concerns about the existing structure."

It's not just Harvey who has these concerns. Members of the school board, the sports department, and the superintendent's office have similar concerns. These concerns, combined with the progress of the new stadium, have created a sense of urgency to move the football game from the downtown stadium to the new campus venue as early as next season.

"The supervisor, the board of directors, and myself are all worried about the deterioration we have seen," Harvey said. "In fact, we will have the facilities available, which allowed us to make an easy decision. This will not be what we envisaged when we cut the ribbon. Everything is 100%, but it will be completed and fully completed in the fall of 2023. Finished. It will become a safer and better place."

The new stadium already has a home stand donated by Grant Milliron. They used to stand on the former track in Mansfield and own property owned by Milliron. A 60-foot news box was installed on Monday morning, and the visiting stands will be ready in about a month.

As soon as the spring weather is over, an artificial turf competition venue will be installed. Depending on the weather and soil conditions, the turf completion schedule will be completed before the end of August. Taking into account the conditions of the Skyles Stadium, the turf project is very important, especially in the playoffs of the Whippets’ home game against Clearfork. The stadium turned into a mud pit. Water accumulates due to rain. Week.

However, when the stadium opens in the fall of 2022, there is still unfinished business. The plan is to build a home locker room for the Shelby football team, but this may not be done. In addition, the permanent restrooms may not be fully completed by the time the Whippets play against Bellevue on September 2, but there will be a temporary solution.

Harvey said: "The franchise will be fully implemented in the way of the final product." "I hope that most of the parking spaces can be arranged before the third week of the game. We will have about 1,000 parking spaces around our school. Space. When you go to other areas, you will not see as many parking spaces as we have around here. We are satisfied with the parking situation.

"The biggest problem I may see is the completion of the restrooms and locker room facilities. We may make temporary repairs to these and introduce things like portable restrooms in central Ohio. We will let the visiting team wear cash in the stadium, where there is no problem. If their locker room is not fully completed, our children will get dressed in the auxiliary gymnasium and walk 200 feet to the stadium. We will be fine."

The plan also includes a courtyard and honor wall at the main entrance of the stadium, which will add a real match day feel to Friday night. The project may be completed in 2023 to refine the details of the new stadium.

Harvey said: "We will not finish the courtyard and the wall of honor and the types of things we really want during the grand opening, but these things are more decorative." "The really beautiful things we plan to do will be completed in 2023. We can really celebrate with the grand opening."

The Whippets did have a home game before Week 3 because they played against Madison in Week 1. The plan is to play that game at WW Skiles Field and hold a grand celebration in the last game to commemorate the history of this ancient stadium. 

"We want to say goodbye to Skiles," Harvey said. "This decision was made after the season, so we didn't have a chance to really say goodbye. We hope to have the last game in week 1, and we plan to play Bellevue in week 3. It depends on whether everything is normal." According to plan, if we find a problem, we will enter the new stadium as soon as possible. The current plan is that we hope to hold it on September 2nd. "

For Harvey and the entire community, this is a very proud project. 

"There is a lot of pride in it," Harvey said. "This is such a great project and I am very happy to be a part of it. We have a lot of local workers here. This is a very proud thing. We keep everything locally. The support is incredible. We have nearly $1 in donations from local businesses and people in millions of dollars. This will be a great facility and a place Shelby has been proud of for many years."

The football field is not the only upgrade to the new campus facilities. The track will be re-paved around the field, which will be used as a football field and a football field, and the lawn will be used for these two sports. 

The pole vault and long jump areas will be updated, and the shot put and discus areas will be moved to the current baseball field. The new baseball field is already under construction, and turf will be laid in the inner field, while the outer field will be an all-grass field.

The tennis court will also be rebuilt from scratch. The track and tennis renovation project is expected to be completed on August 1.

One person who is very excited about the stadium of the future is Shelby coach Rob Mahaney. The third-year coach led the Whippets team to the playoffs for the third consecutive time this fall with a 9 wins and 3 losses.

He acknowledges the tradition of Skiles Field, but the opportunity to inherit this tradition in the new facility is exciting.

Mahaney said: "Obviously, the Skyles Stadium has a long history. The fans are so close, the student area is behind the end area, and the atmosphere is superb." "The walk on the river and the bridge has a lot of traditions. But. In the new stadium, we will try to replicate some of them. This is just a great opportunity to put everything in one place on our campus and start some new traditions.

"It's exciting when you see the plans and start to imagine them. The news box has gone up this week, the stands have gone up, and the away stands have gone up. You see the potential of this thing, and it will happen very fast. .In my opinion, obviously I am biased, but I think this will be one of the best facilities in Richland County, right at Allin Stadium. I am very happy to be coaching there and our children are very excited to participate in."

He is also very happy that he will still play against Madison at the Skyles Stadium in the first week as a symbolic farewell game. 

"I think this is very important," Mahaney said. "That stadium has a lot of history and tradition. Everyone who plays football in this community has played in that stadium, so it’s very important for our community to be able to hold a farewell game at that stadium. Especially against Madison, this is Long-term competition in Richland County.

"Knowing that this will be our last game in Skiles is very important. It will be very special to be able to consciously pass on this tradition and history. It will also cause the hustle and bustle of people entering the new stadium, where we will work every day. Commemorate the tradition, culture and history of Skiles Field and Shelby Whippet football."