ST. MARY'S, Ohio—A $50,000 donation from ContiTech's St. Mary's industrial products plant is intended to help expand athletic opportunities for high school students and the community.
The donation, made throughout a five-year period to the St. Mary's Community Foundation and the Roughriders Philanthropic Association, is supporting a $3 million project that calls for the building of a new stadium and athletic complex. The project is being funded entirely by donations from community organizations, individuals and companies.
The stadium, RPA notes on its website, is being designed for use by the St. Mary's high school football, soccer, track and band. Plans call for the building of a new walking path for community use and a 650-spot parking lot, in addition to the stadium and ticket office. The hope is the community will use the facility regularly and that the high school can conduct physical education classes there.
According to the RPA website, the facility also could be used to host Ohio High School Athletic Association playoff games for both football and soccer.
"Everything we are doing for this project is to put our best foot forward with a competitive facility, for regular season games and for playoff games," Galen Cisco, the project's honorary co-chair, said in a statement. "This will be one of the nicest stadiums in our area and we are so grateful to Continental."
Construction on the complex has begun.