A century of gridiron history came crashing down last July when the grandstands at Bill Jobko Stadium in Brookside was demolished by a demo crew from Edgeco, Inc. It was a moment that culminated from years of maintenance neglect and repeated damage from flood waters.
Grass can be sodded anew. The playing surface can be lined off ad nauseum when need arises. But the prospects of continually ensuring the safety of a grandstand built in 1919 become too much and it its demise was deemed necessary.
Two seasons have gone by since football was last played on Perkins’ field’s storied surface. The Bridgeport Bulldogs have played road warriors since, calling both Red Devil Stadium in St. Clairsville and Purple Rider Stadium in Martins Ferry home in 2018. All “home” games were held at Ferry last season.
Provided the recent positive signs in pandemic pushback continue, the 2020 season will see home games played upriver in the turf at Martins Ferry.
Bridgeport athletics director Greg Harkness, his department, and the greater school community at large are all thankful for the helping hand both districts offered. They wish it wasn’t necessary, but Harkness is hoping this is the final season it’s required.
“We absolutely appreciate the help we’ve gotten four our neighbors, especially Martins Ferry,” Harkness said. “They’ve given us the green light to use the field again this fall. We are optimistic that things are going to go the way we want and that this will be the last season we need to use their facility.”
Weighing the Options
The Bridgeport Exempted Village and its athletics department performed its due diligence in searching for the best option to bring the stadium back to life. That exploration resulted in multiple possibilities, both at its current location in Brookside as well as others.
One of the said others was at property adjacent to the current school campus, most of which is owned—and operated—by former Bridgeport mayor John Callarik. His portion of the property, Chapter Square, contains more than 100 storage units along with a laundromat and car wash, providing both jobs and needed facilities to area residents.
Callarik put up a passionate fight against the planned move. He wasn’t alone either as smaller protests broke out against the plan.
The board relented said push and sent letters to property owners in early March that they opted to go in another direction. Eminent domain was off the table.
One potential crisis averted. But it left the problem of what to do.
All Eyes on Perkins
While Perkins Field has not seen a live football game in a few years, baseball has no such problem. The Bulldogs have utilized their home field as Perkins is a shared-space facility and portions of the outfield double as the football field come fall.
Building the stadium back up then is priority. Harkness noted the district is awaiting word from flood study to iron out the details of the best path to pursue rebuild. One thing is for certain, increasing the elevation, similar to the Riesbeck’s Food Markets facility just down the road, is not an option.
“The flood study is almost complete, which is the first phase of the process,” Harkness said. “But raising the field is not an option because of the issues it would cause for other low-lying areas along the creek. The problem was never the field, it’s the secondary buildings, and there are quite a few needed to host a football game. But right now, we are basically all in on refurbishing Perkins Field.”
Harkness noted that plan, while still in the early stages, includes a set for new home-side bleachers. Portable bleaches will be used for the visitors’ side, as was done before. Permanent seating for the visitors’ section is not an option as that area contains the outfield for the baseball diamond.
For those wondering or sitting in the dark, fingers crossed, no, turf is not an option. Neither is an all-weather track to ring the field. Both because of the dual baseball/football facility setup, and there just isn’t room.
The major sticking points are going to be the fieldhouse, concession stand and restrooms.
“Those are going to be the challenge, but we are thinking outside of the box to come up with a plan for those necessary buildings,” Harkness said. “We have some pretty good ideas, but we are still working through those.”
It was previously reported that a mobile trailer or even bringing in food trucks are options for concessions. But, given concessions are a lifeblood of the athletic department’s budget at football games, they need to ensure that money stays in-house.
“A mobile concession stand is the most likely avenue. We need to keep the revenue generated for the Band Boosters and (the mobile stand) can also be used for baseball games,” Harkness said.
Athletics Director Greg Harkness noted the main sticking point will be the secondary buildings, liek the fieldhouse, concession stand, and restrooms. Pictured is the old fieldhouse along wiht a portion of the baseball field’s outfield and fence. While football hasn’t been played at Perkins since 2017, the baseball field is still used each spring.
Soon Time to Make More Memories
Perkins Field is not just home to Bridgeport High School sports. Junior high athletics, youth league tackle and flag football, and even the school’s annual graduation have called it home in the past.
The facility hosted its first and lone playoff game in 2010, when an undefeated Bulldogs team consisting of Garrett Price and the Brothers Smelley (Chris, Curt and Cole), along with Mike Dalto took care of Southern Local before falling to Shadyside two weeks later in the regional final. Earlier that season, the stands at Perkins were packed as the Bulldogs knocked off Shadyside 21-14 in the regular season.
That was one of the two most memorable gridiron moments at Perkins, along with the epic 1996 week-nine meeting of the unbeatens between the Eddie Drummond-led Linsly Cadets and the Bulldogs, led by backfield duo Bryan Widmor and Brian Bodor.
Bridgeport being granted the chance to hold its home games at neighboring stadiums is the karma train coming full circle. For years, Perkins Field served as home field “B” for the St. John Central Fighting Irish when hometown Nelson Field was unavailable.
In true Bridgeport hospitality, more recently, the ‘Dogs returned the favor allowing Martins Ferry to utilize Perkins Field last spring for baseball season while its own facilities were being worked on.
Just sit tight fans of the Blue and Black. Football will return to Bill Jobko stadium soon enough.
“I’d like to thank Kim Appolloni and Mark Cook, Jim Fogle and the Martins Ferry School Board (Brian McFarland, Nick Stankovich, Scott Ballint, Dorothy Powell and Billy Suto) for their help,” Harkness concluded. “That’s what is great about the valley. The communities step up and help each other. Their baseball facility wasn’t ready last spring, so they were able to play a handful of baseball games at our place, so we were able to return the favor a little.”
