November 1, 2024

What holds 5,000 people, costs $15 million dollars, and took 11 months to build? If you guessed Copley High School’s brand new stadium, winner-winner chicken dinner! 

Summit Construction of Akron first broke ground on the stadium on November 14, 2023 in a celebratory event with Copley district staff. This was a long-awaited moment because the new stadium was authorized by a bond issue in November 2022. This means that the stadium was paid for with money that the community agreed to let the school borrow through a special vote. 

The district’s goal was for the stadium project to be finished by August 2024, and Summit Construction accomplished this feat. It was no easy work, though. The old stadium was torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. Its replacement features brand new bleachers with seating for 5,000 people: plenty of space for students’ families and friends. The updated locker rooms include speakers, fresh bathrooms and a modernized entrance. The concession stand is also new and expanded. The updated turf and light shows are already community favorites. 

Senior Cameron Dalton, a varsity linebacker wearing No. 10, feels a special sense of honor on the new field. 

“It’s a great experience to be able to play in the new stadium,” Dalton said. “It was definitely rough during the summer having to practice on the grass but [now] it’s worth it. The stadium really is a place for the community to come together.” 

“It’s a very inviting area where people can gather and become more of that community,” Copley Superintendent Amy Kirsch said. 

 Senior class president, Black Student Union leader and varsity safety/wide receiver Julian Bearshak has noticed a difference since the football team started working in the new stadium. The environment has sparked a newfound sense of hope and responsibility in the players. 

“It’s inspiring,” Bearshak said. “It rejuvenated us, and it gives us more of a ‘why.’ It’s like we have something we’re practicing for and working toward. We owe it to the community to make it mean something.”

For head football coach John Kromalic, the stadium has been a long time coming, and its arrival represents the entire Copley community.  

“I remember [during] my senior year at Copley High School, back in 2014, some other schools started building new stadiums and we were really excited to go there,” Kromalic said. “I think a lot of people [have] started to feel that way about Copley.”

It may have been a long time coming, but in the end Copley’s new stadium has brought the community together. It took a tribe to build it, and it will take a tribe to run it. 

As for future improvements?

“Fireworks after we win would be tuff,” Dalton said. “Cause our stands be bumpin.’”