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Turf field, new track highlight renovated facility

By Lucas Lenze 4 min read

BELLEFONTE -- After a year of construction and renovation, Rogers Stadium at Bellefonte Area High School is up and running. The project started back in May 2018. JC Orr and Son was in charge of the constuction for the project that began with the installation of new bleachers and field lights.

Phase two of the project focused on getting the new artificial turf field laid down and the running track installed. This phase also included upgrading some of the buildings surrounding the stadium.

Other groups involved in the construction were Joseph C. Hazel for plumbing, Westmoreland Electric Service with electric and Shannon A. Smith for HVAC.

The completion date for the project was scheduled to be right before the start of the 2019 football season in August.

In total, the project cost $7 million, which came from a variety of different sources. The project was completed Aug. 22, 2019.

The school received $3 million from a grant and $3 million in school district funds, which left a $1 million funding gap, which was closed by various individuals and groups through the capital campaign set up for the project.

The band booster club donated $5,000, the Class of 2019 donated $8,000, a football booster club donated $5,000, the Class of 1969 gave $2,000 and the Bellefonte Wrestling Association gave $1,000. Reliance Bank donated $125,000 and that number was matched by the Jeremy Herbstritt Foundation. The Schaub family donated $10,000 to the project since the jumping pits for track and field are being dedicated in his name.

Rogers Stadium goes back to before it was known by that name. Football in Bellefonte dates all the way back to the days of playing on the Glass Work's Meadow Field in the 1890s. Back then, there were not even bleachers at the field.

Bill Sieg purchased some land and developed it into an athletic field for the community in the 1930s. The field was officially dedicated in 1937 and named Hughes Field. The school purchased the field in 1948 and installed lights for night games.

On Sept. 12, 1992, the field was dedicated to a father/son duo who served as team physicians for more than 80 years. Hugh Rogers graduated from Bellefonte High School in 1937 and was a member of the undefeated football team there. The stadium was then renamed Rogers Stadium. The stadium held roughly 5,000 fans in 1992.

Track and field was recognized as a school sanctioned and sponsored sport in 1971, but the stadium did not have a track that met adequate standards for hosting competitions. In 1992, the school decided it would no longer have home track meets and has since only competed in away events. The installation of a new eight lane track will allow the school to host track meets for the first time in 27 years.

Some of those who made donations to the stadium have historical ties to the school and the programs to which they are dedicated. Jeremy Herbstritt and Lt. Jonas Martin Panik will have their names on the track. Herbstritt is a member of the Bellefonte Class of 1998. He went on to school at Virginia Tech Unversity. He was one of many victims of the April 16, 2007, mass shooting at the school. Herbstritt was a member of the track and field team at Bellefonte while a student there.

Next was Lt. Panik. He was a graduate of the Bellefonte Class of 1993. Panik was killed in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001. He was also a member of the Bellefonte track and field team during his time at BHS. The track will be known officially as the Jeremey Herbstritt and Lt. Jonas Martin Panik U.S. Navy Track.

The other part of the track being dedicated is the Dave Schaub Family jumping pits. One name that is synonymous with Bellefonte athletics is Dave Schaub. Schaub coached a variety of sports for nearly five decades at both middle and high school levels.

Schaub was the coach for the track and field team. He coached Panik and Herbstritt in their time at the school. Schaub coached his four daughters in their jumping events when they were on Bellefonte's track and field team. Even though he's retired, he has spent the past two years volunteering as a coach for Bellefonte's jumpers.

The stadium officially opened with an event call Light Up the Field and has since hosted several Red Raiders sporting events.

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