WARREN, Ohio – After years of construction that reshaped the Warren G. Harding High School campus in Warren, one of the final pieces is complete.
New visitor bleachers at Mollenkopf Stadium opened for the Raiders’ first home football game Aug. 28, completing a broader expansion that included the district’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center, new locker rooms, a new bandshell and upgrades to the home side of the stadium.
The $7.5 million project restored permanent visitor seating to Mollenkopf Stadium and added new athletic and spectator amenities.
“The concrete that created the base of our bleacher section was actually poured around 1932,” says John Lacy, director of business operations for Warren City Schools. “So for about the past five or six years, we’ve actually had to close that section off due to concrete deterioration.”
The project goes beyond replacing the old seating. Beneath the new stands are a visitor locker room, men’s and women’s restrooms, batting facilities for the baseball and softball teams and concession stands.
The stands seat 2,500 spectators, about 45% fewer than the previous structure.
“We had two decks on it previously, so we went basically to a one-deck setup this time,” Lacy says. He says the new section is approximately as wide as the old stands but is shorter, and portable bleachers could provide additional capacity if needed.
Construction began in late October 2025 with the removal of high-voltage power lines that ran through the project area, says George Liptak, superintendent with DeSalvo Construction. Once those lines were removed, crews used a crane to take down the existing press box. It was transported off-site, renovated and returned to the stadium.
The renovated press box received new carpet, base, countertops and siding.
At peak construction, between 25 and 30 workers were on-site. Liptak says the project required masons, concrete crews, HVAC and electrical contractors, painters, roofers and carpenters.
One of the biggest challenges was northeastern Ohio’s winter weather.
“We didn’t really expect the winter that we had,” Liptak says. “We expected to do a lot more work throughout the winter. We knew that we would have days here and there, but we didn’t expect the weeks in a row, the sub-zero weather that we got.”
The prolonged cold delayed foundation work and affected the construction schedule. Timing and material availability also prompted the team to move away from an insulated masonry unit originally planned for the building. The finished exterior instead incorporates vertical metal siding along with brick piers.
A shortage of available construction workers added another challenge, according to Liptak. Ideally, contractors that fall behind schedule can increase manpower to make up time. With fewer workers available across the trades, however, contractors have instead relied on existing crews working overtime to close the gap.
Scheduling became particularly important as the project entered its finishing stages. Installation of the epoxy flooring was fairly straightforward, but the cure time required some logistical planning.
“Then you have to leave 10 days of cure time before you get any type of heavy equipment on there,” Liptak says. “So, needless to say, that was a challenge with trying to get everybody in there to be able to complete their work.”
That meant sequencing contractors around the curing process while continuing work elsewhere to keep the project moving toward its deadline.
As the deadline approached, crews turned their attention to completing the remaining work required before the stands could open.
“To get occupancy, you need the toilets, the toilet partitions, the grab bars, all the ADA-required accessories installed,” Liptak says. “You need the fire alarm up and running to get occupancy.”
The Aug. 28 opener served as the effective deadline throughout construction.
“Our timeline was our first game, and so we’ve had to fight some of the supply issues and supply chain issues,” Lacy says. “But DeSalvo Construction has done a really nice job of working us through that, so we’ll be ready for our first home game.”
For DeSalvo Construction, completing the visitor stands closed another chapter in several years of work at Harding. Liptak spent two years on the recreation center before moving into the Akron Children’s Hospital clinic buildout and student bistro. Work on the bistro eventually overlapped with demolition of the old visitor stands.
“I do enjoy the people out here,” Liptak says. “Over the years, I’ve made a lot of friends and connections out here.”
The larger campus transformation began when the district broke ground in July 2022 on the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. The 140,000-square-foot building includes a pediatric clinic run by Akron Children’s Hospital, a student-operated bistro, golf simulators, an esports lab, a robotics lab and a 200-meter track.
Other improvements surrounding Mollenkopf Stadium have included new home and visitor locker rooms and a relocated bandshell that now faces the home stands. Crews also waterproofed the home stands and made improvements underneath, including new steel doors, concession windows, concrete and painting.
The visitor stands bring that sequence of projects to an end.
“This will complete the expansion of the campus, and basically we’re out of room,” Lacy says.
The investment has changed how people outside the district view the Harding campus, he adds.
“The public has been just really very positive about the changes that we’ve made, and visitors that come in can’t believe that this is just a high school campus,” Lacy says. “I’ve had some friends that are college coaches who told me, ‘we have better facilities than a lot of the colleges in the area.’”
With the new stands open, the district has completed the latest phase of improvements at Warren G. Harding, bringing several years of construction on the campus to a close.
“For Warren, I think it’s the ability to show people that we have something really special here,” Lacy says. “It’s kind of a showcase. We’re obviously providing opportunities for our students, and we want to be able to show that our students deserve the best, and that Warren can produce the best.”
Pictured at top: John Lacy, director of business operations for Warren City Schools, stands in front of the new visitor bleachers at Mollenkopf Stadium.
