To the sound of the Albright Alma Mater and the Reading High School fight song, construction on the rebuilding of Shirk Stadium officially began Friday, February 18, 2005.
Despite freezing wind, a cheerful crowd of Albright alumni, coaches, athletes, Hall of Fame members and Reading High School officials and guests turned out for the groundbreaking ceremony. While the Red Knight Marching Band played, Albright cheerleaders handed out Albright stadium cushions to guests who sat in the old concrete grandstand for the last time.
The $6 million project is an innovative public/private joint venture with Reading School District (RSD), which is contributing $2 million. Reading High School has used Shirk Stadium for football since at least the early 1940s. The reconstruction was spearheaded by a $1 million gift from Albright Hall of Fame member John Scholl ’69.
Dr. David Stinebeck, interim president, and Dr. M. Melissa Jamula, Reading School District superintendent, spoke about their pride in a cooperative venture that will serve both institutions, and Reading, for years to come. “This is a savvy economic partnership,” Jamula said, “But of far greater value is to continue to create the memories that will warm the soul of this community.”
After Salvatore M. Cutrona ’73, chair of the Albright Board of Trustees, presented Scholl with an “official” Albright hard hat, Scholl climbed on board a bright orange construction vehicle and took the first “bite” from the existing stadium grandstand.
A highlight of the ceremony was a visit home by NFL Hall of Famer and former Baltimore Colt Lenny Moore. A 1952 Reading High School graduate, Moore fondly recalled his years playing football for the Red Knights in Shirk Stadium.
The Albright Lion and the Reading High Red Knight also wielded sledgehammers to take a whack at the old grandstand.
Dr. Annadora Shirk, widow of the late Gene Shirk, was unable to attend, but the Shirk family was represented by their granddaughter, Alyssa Beaver.
The new Shirk Stadium will be a 5,000-seat multi-sport stadium with a new 13,000-square foot field house/grandstands building attached to the new stands. New locker rooms will be added and artificial turf will replace the current grass field. RSD funds will add lighting, a modern entrance and concessions, extensive landscaping, and an enlargement of the planned field house/grandstands building.
The stadium will be able to host football, field hockey, soccer and lacrosse. The stadium is expected to be completed by the fall 2005 football season.
Shirk Stadium was built around 1909 as Circus Maximus by William Abbott Whitman, a local entrepreneur who built the Reading Pagoda.
The stadium was originally the home of the Tri-State Minor League Baseball League. It was donated in 1923 to Schuylkill College, which then merged with Albright College in 1929 when Albright moved to its current location in Reading from Myerstown. In 1981 Albright Stadium was renamed Eugene L. Shirk Stadium after the beloved Albright professor and former mayor of Reading.
By mid-March, all that was left standing of the stadium were the two stone columns topped with stone lions of the main gate. The columns will be incorporated into the new structure.
Main entrance to the stadium at Schuylkill College, which today is Albright College, from 12th and Exeter. One of a series of photos taken in 1925 to document progress being made during reconstruction of the stadium and athletic field. Photo courtesy of Patricia, Carol and Barbara Diehl and Brian, Dennis and Marla Slimmer. (photo and caption reprinted by permission of George M. Meiser, IX, who published the photo in Volume 10 of the series The Passing Scene.)
The Albright Marching Band peps up the crowd at a 1954 game.
A 1956 Albright football game played in Shirk Stadium. This was Coach John Potsklan’s first year as head coach.
John Scholl ’69 (center), who spearheaded the project with a $1 million gift, is thanked by (l to r) Dr. Melissa Jamula, Reading School’s superintendent; Dr. David Stinebeck, interim president; Dr. Steve George ’68, associate vice president for student affairs & interim director of athletics; and Sal Cutrona ’73, chair, Board of Trustees.
photo by Ron Romanski
NFL Hall of Famer and Reading High School graduate Lenny Moore reminisces about his time as a Red Knight with interim president David Stinebeck as the first “bite” is taken from Shirk Stadium.
photo by: Ron Romanski
The Albright Lion and Reading High Red Knight help bring down the wall.
photo by: Ron Romanski
The last piece of the grandstand in Shirk Stadium
came down on March 4, 2005 making way for a new stadium that will include
a field house, concessions
and a gift shop.
Photo: John A Secoges, courtesy of the Reading Eagle
After the last piece of the stadium came down, all that remained were the two stone columns of the main gate. They will be incorporated into the new structure.
photo: Jennifer Post Stoudt