THINK YOU NEED TO REPLACE YOUR EXISTING STADIUM? THINK AGAIN.

Special Projects Group Finds Ways to Safely Renovate and Deliver 70% Savings on Total Cost to Rebuild

When leaders at the Fairless School District in Navarre, Ohio noticed the wood throughout Fred Brideweser Stadium was deteriorating, they imagined the worst. Mark Phillips and Mike Hearn, Treasurer and Superintendent, respectively, believed the entire stadium would need to be replaced.

“Mark and I knew we didn’t have funding to build a new stadium. But looking at the deterioration of the existing wood flooring, walkways and stairs, we figured the whole thing would need to be torn down and rebuilt,” said Hearn. “We started making calls to get pricing on building a new stadium and bids came in at over $3 million to replace both sides.”

Then they recalled that Dant Clayton had done some work to close the gaps between the seats and floorboards and hoped they might be able to help. Initially Territory Manager Paul Riedinger got things rolling by sharing a ballpark number to renovate the stadium. He then turned it over to Dant Clayton’s Special Projects Group to handle it from there.

“Our Special Projects Group was set up to handle instances like these, when aspects of a customer’s current stadium are still viable but need modernization to be safer, more attractive, and to be brought up to code. These types of projects are complex and require someone unafraid to dig into the details. A lot of companies don't want to do that level of work, but Dant Clayton is well-suited for it."

– Cy Duvall, Special Projects Group Manager

“Cy came up here and really could envision what was needed. He brought the experience and the eye to say this can absolutely be renovated. We couldn’t see it, but he could. The knowledge and expertise that Cy and his team brought to the table can’t be overstated. Even when we got into the project, he was able to make adjustments on the fly, without changing the cost and timeline. Something you don’t see very often today.”

– -Mark Phillips, Treasurer Fairless School District

The stadium is now fully ADA compliant and up to code.

When asked how long the renovated stadium is expected to last, Hearn mentioned the structural engineer who examined the work said he didn’t see an end date.

Hearn wasn’t aware you could use the existing structure. “We saved 70% of the total cost of a new stadium build,” said Hearn.

Phillips went on to say he was so impressed with the Fairless job that he contacted the Special Projects Group to do the same work on Tusky Valley, another school in the district.

Put Your Venue Challenges in Expert Hands

Have a venue need that our Special Projects Group can be a benefit to, contact us today specialprojects@dantclayton.com.