Will Rayen Stadium be renovated for home games?

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown City School District is looking at a plan to renovate Rayen Stadium on Benita Avenue.

It’s a project with an estimated price tag of more than $2.6 million, said Ed Matey, in charge of district athletics, health and physical development.

“It’s a large project to undertake,” he said, adding that, at this point, the district just wants to see if it is feasible.

The 6,000-seat stadium was built when the former Rayen High School was erected on Benita in 1922, and, although some seating and minor changes have been made over the years, it remains largely as it was when first constructed.

It was the home of the Rayen Tigers who played their last home game there in fall 2006. The school was closed in June 2007 and later razed as part of a $190 million district-wide school rebuilding program.

Youngstown’s two remaining high schools — Chaney and East — both play their home games in Youngstown State University’s Stambaugh Stadium, said Tony DeNiro, assistant superintendent for school business affairs.

Scheduling games there is difficult because of a high demand for the field, and the two high schools get only three home games a year there, he said.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com