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Sorry the Canton
Timken Trojans |
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The Fawcett Stadium Story Fawcett Stadium is named for John A. Fawcett. Mr. Fawcett was a former member of the Canton Board of Education and a well-known athlete. He died of pneumonia at the age of 44, a few years before the stadium was built. The stadium was built from 1937-1939 at an estimated cost of $500,000. The federal government in the form of man power, the WPA, paid for $400,000 while a school board bond issue paid for the materials. The stadium originally seated 15,000 and was the largest high, school stadium in the country at that time. On the grounds of the facility was a park, aptly named "Stadium Park". This park still exists although presently is much more disjointed from the stadium as part of the park was used as the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and also because what is left of the park is separated from Fawcett Stadium by Interstate 77. In 1997 Fawcett Stadium underwent a major renovation and a name change. Backed by the Canton community, $4.3 million worth of improvements were completed on the stadium. Some of the major improvements included state-of-the-art Astroturf with a player friendly rubber base, new locker room facilities, new scoreboard with graphics display screen, new lighting, new sound system, new electrical services, structural repairs, vinyl caps for all wooden seats, and a renovated press box. The newly renovated stadium was also renamed to include the words Pro Football Hall of Fame Field.
A total of five local teams play their home games at Fawcett Stadium. They include NAIA rivals Malone College and Walsh University as well as three high schools: Glen Oak, McKinley, and Timken.
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When the Hall of Fame game went prime time in 1998, engineers told ABC Sports,
which broadcasts the game, that the stadium needed better lighting for a night
game. The NFL responded by paying $365,000 for the addition of five light poles
to bring the total to nine.