PARMA, Ohio — The Parma City School District announced in a Facebook post that Byers Field at Robert M. Boulton Stadium will reopen Thursday with a high school football game to kick things off.
The Valley Forge Patriots Varsity Football team will play the Garfield Bulldogs on the repaired field.
“Football is important to this community. We really bring the people out,” said Heather McNally, a football fan.
This comes after the storm damage that caused Parma City Schools to close the field for safety measures.
RELATED: Parma City Schools Byers Field closed due to storm damage
In just a short amount of time, McNally will be among hundreds seated in these stands, under the stadium’s bright lights, to cheer on the Valley Forge Patriots Varsity Football Team on Thursday.
“It’s really exciting. I can’t wait to be there,” said McNally.
For the last several weeks, the field has been shut down due to August’s storm.
That’s when News 5 arrived to get a closer look at the damage, which we saw destroyed the back wall of the bleachers, bent fences and even damaged lights.
“I was horrified,” said McNally.
Because of the storm’s impact, Parma City Schools Athletic Director Chris Medaglia said the football team has not played at home since kicking off their season on Aug. 23.
“We’ve traveled the first few Fridays. Lakewood opened their doors to us two weeks ago so Normandy could play there, and their people were great. Last Friday, we were supposed to be at home versus North Ridgeville, but again, the stadium wasn’t open, so we traveled to North Ridgeville,” said Medaglia.
But now, parents like Nadine Jamison are happy the team can finally play at home again.
“Thankful that the damage was minimalistic and that we’re able to get back to the home field,” said Jamison.
In a statement to News 5, Superintendent Dr. Charles Smialek said:
“We are very excited to return to normal Thursday night. We are grateful for all of our staff members who worked so hard to bring this to a safe resolution. We are also grateful to our opponents to this point who have been so flexible. We can’t wait to kickoff our “home” season.”
“It’s a gathering place for our community and anytime we can gather, and we can be in each other’s space and have that energy, I think is a good thing for the community,” said Jamison.
The big game against Garfield Heights will kick off right here at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
