WILLIAMSPORT -- Williamsport Area High School football players hope they'll play their first home game on artificial turf next year. The current field is more than 40 years old and officials say it's time for some upgrades. They broke ground for the project at STA Stadium Thursday.
The Williamsport Millionaires have always played on the grass field at what's now known as STA Stadium behind Williamsport High School. All of that is about to change.
"We're putting in artificial turf and going to put in a new eight-lane track in the facility,” said athletic director Sean McCann.
"For me it's kind of cool because I'll be the last on grass and the first on turf,” said junior Frank Rose.
McCann and his Williamsport Millionaires met on the field hours before the official groundbreaking that kicks off a $2.7 million renovation project.
"New lights, again the lights are 45 years old, we are going to have new bleachers on our visiting side," said McCann.
Back in 2013, a bus company, Student Transportation of America paid $500,000 for the naming rights of the stadium for 15 years. The school is now using that money, along with donations, to help pay for the upgrades.
Those donations were gathered by the non-profit WASD Education Foundation's Return to Glory Campaign. The foundation still needs about $400,000 to reach its campaign goal.
"We want to give the students something they can be proud of, something they can take ownership in. This project will really do that for us,” said McCann.
While school officials say this was a great year for track and field, some of the students say once all of the improvements are complete, they are sure they will head down a winning track.
“Like this is a new track, I don't want to lose on this track. I can start here and not lose on this track so why not? It will just motivate me to do better,” said sophomore Qayyim Ali.
"I know that we have the players we have the coaching and now we are going to have the field to bring everyone together back into the Williamsport program,” said freshman Angelo Girardi.
School officials say renovations to the Williamsport Area athletic complex are expected to be complete just in time for football games this fall.