NEWS

Want to buy Crestline's old football stadium?

Zach Tuggle
Reporter

CRESTLINE - In the market for a football stadium? For the right price, you could own one in Crestline.

The city's school board recently announced plans to sell the old Hutson Stadium, which has served the community for decades.

The abandoned old Hutson Stadium in Crestline, unused since the 2013 football season, will be auctioned on Nov. 1.

"They bought the land for that stadium back in the 1930s," said Marc Milliron, village administrator for Crestline.

The stadium saw its glory days come to a close at the end of the school's 2013 football season. The Bulldogs played their first game in the new Hutson Stadium on Aug. 29, 2014.

With no clear use for the old site, officials decided their only feasible option was to sell the stadium. Bidding will begin at 8 a.m. Nov. 1.

The venue was originally known as the Crestline Football Field. In 1975, the stadium was named after Merle Hutson, who is one of Crestline's most remembered football icons. He played football for Heidelberg College, the Cleveland Indians (an old NFL team that existed for only the 1931 season) and finally the Crestline Merchants (a semi-pro team).

Hutson coached both football and basketball in Crestline until the mid-1950s, taking at least two seasons off to serve in World War II.

After being abandoned for three years, the old Hutson Stadium in Cresline will be auctioned on Nov. 1.

Hutson was inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1971 and Heidelburg's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.

To continue honoring one of the city's beloved coaches, the school board voted in 2014 to name the new stadium in his honor as well.

The city's council members voted in 2016 to not vacate a nearly 70-foot right-of-way in front of the stadium. Milliron said the school board approached the city about the matter earlier in the year, and that city officials decided they might someday need that access again. Whoever purchases the stadium will be required to allow that access.

"They will just have to recognize that it does sit on a public right-of-way," Milliron said.

The school board believes the old stadium is valued somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000.

For more information on the upcoming auction, call the school board at 419-683-3647.

ztuggle@gannett.com

419-563-9225

Twitter: @zachtuggle