READING, Ohio — If you ask members of the Reading Community City School District and Reading City Council, they agree on one thing: Veterans Memorial Stadium needs an upgrade.
The stadium is old and outdated, and the track is in such bad shape that Reading High School hasn't hosted track meets in years. The city has offered to transfer ownership of the stadium to the school district, but school leaders refused.
On Monday, Mayor Robert Bemmes sat down with WCPO 9 News to discuss the stadium's future. He said you have to go back to 1951 to understand how the city ended up owning a football stadium.
At that time, Reading High School didn't have a football field or a track. On the plot of land where Veterans Memorial Stadium resides, Bemmes said a former fireworks company occupied the space, but they went out of business.
"The Kiwanis (Club) bought the property, they cleared it, made it playable for kids for youth sports, and then handed it over to the city. Why they did that, God love them, I respect their decisions, but it should've gone to the schools then and there, but hey, we work with what we have but that's how the city ended up owning it," said Bemmes.
WATCH: We discuss the history and future of the stadium
During a May city council meeting, Aaron Tiernan spoke to council members about the importance of someone taking ownership of the stadium and renovating it.
"There's tons of grants out there, you guys have no business running, owning the stadium. You guys have other, bigger things to worry about, so I'm asking, I'm challenging you guys, get together with the school, and Reading Youth, because at the end of the day, all three organizations have their hands involved in that," said Tiernan.
"I'm on my sixth superintendent and offered that stadium for free to each and every one of them ... and they didn't want to take it," said Bemmes. "We would love to be out of that stadium business, you're right, we have no right being in it."
Bemmes explained the city's main priority is public safety, and making sure everyone is following the laws — not maintaining a football stadium.
"I personally would like to be out of the stadium business, to me, the biggest hurdle is money," council member Dave Powell said.
Council member Bob Boehner also explained how in past years, there have been some groups who did some fundraising, in hopes of raising enough money for renovations.
"A lot of discussion, a lot of enthusiasm, and all of a sudden it just dropped because the school couldn't come through with the money they promised," said Boehner. "I'm not knocking the schools, I'm just saying that's the reality."
However, both sides can't agree on how to go about upgrading the stadium, and who should ultimately be responsible for it.
On Monday, Tiernan and his son Aaden walked us around the stadium.
"People have let this go to waste," said Tiernan. "It's getting mistreated, it's not getting the love that it needs."
Aaden is going into his sophomore year at Reading High School and is a kicker on the football team. He said the facilities are bad and the field is known to flood, which has resulted in the team moving their home games off-site.
"We have no AC, and no nothing, we all sit in like one big square, it's like 100 degrees in there during games, and it's just brutal," Aaden said of the locker rooms.
He showed us the track, where the track team still has practice, but the school hasn't hosted a meet in about 15 years.
There are also questions about equity since we noticed there are no wheelchair accessible ramps into the stands. Bemmes said in past years, he and his father would bring in a ramp for spectators to the games. Right now, anyone in a wheelchair watches games on the track.
We reached out to Reading Community City School District to get their side of the story. Superintendent Dr. Damon Davis declined an on-camera interview, but sent WCPO 9 News a joint statement from the district and the city, saying in part:
"We want to let everyone know that the concerns have been heard. Over the last 15 years, we have explored multiple solutions; however, in the past, there has not been sufficient financial support to complete these plans."
It also said the two sides are working on a "long-term solution" for a plan to finance stadium repairs.
Read the entire statement here:
"The only way I see it being able to be done would be some kind of a tax levy," said Powell.
That possibility was discussed during the May city council meeting, where they estimated it would cost $3.5 million to put the stadium in line with today's standards.
"We're finally, I think, this close," Bemmes said.
The mayor said Reading voters would decide the stadium's future on the May 2026 ballot with a tax levy. If voters were to approve this, a potential agreement between the city and school district would include the city transferring ownership of the stadium over to the school district in the next 10 years.
