Root for the ‘Home’ Team? Lansdale Catholic High School Could Rent North Penn’s Crawford Stadium

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

Could a familiar squad start calling North Penn High School’s Crawford Stadium home?

School board members have started talks on a request from Lansdale Catholic High School to rent Crawford for several football games on Fridays and Saturdays this fall.

"There are quite a few families of Lansdale Catholic that live within the North Penn School District, and it would be a nice gesture to say ‘You can utilize this at a reduced fee,'” said Director of Facilities and Operations Tom Schneider.

Crawford Stadium was built in the early 1970s and in November 1991 was named for James B. Crawford, a health and phys-ed teacher at Lansdale High School starting in 1930, coach of the high school’s first district championship for cross-country running in 1949, and the first athletic director of North Penn High School from 1955 to 1972.

The stadium itself was the subject of lengthy study and debate in the late 2010s as frequent flooding caused games to be moved elsewhere and residents raised accessibility concerns, and a renovation project that started in 2020 and ended in 2021 converted the field to an artificial multiuse surface, improved the drainage, and increased accessibility while expanding restrooms and adding storage areas for teams and their supporters.

At the time, school board members made the case that the renovated stadium could be used for more events than just football, and/or rented to outside groups to generate revenue. The first request to do so was discussed Monday night, as the school board’s facilities and operations committee heard a request from LC to rent the stadium for four football games in fall 2024.

"At this point, Lansdale Catholic is considering four events: two Saturday evenings, and two Friday games,” Schneider said.

The most recent district fee schedule includes hourly rates for use of the football field, press box, scoreboard and sound system, Schneider said, and in lieu of that fee LC has asked to pay a $1,000 per game flat fee, and also cover the costs of any grounds crew, custodial staff, or security needed. The district typically has a custodian on site on Fridays, Schneider told the committee, so that fee would only apply on Saturdays, and LC has indicated they would also cover the costs of police and emergency medical personnel: "None of that would be any expense of the district,” Schneider said.

Based on the hourly rates, Schneider told the committee, he calculated a per-game expense of roughly $1,500, so the $1,000 flat fee would be a reduction by roughly one-third, and thus require board approval. School board President Tina Stoll said she was "really glad” to see the request on the board’s agenda.

"We used to have LC rent the stadium on Saturdays, back in the day: after North Penn played on Friday night, LC would play Saturday, so I’m glad to see this is back. I know they got frustrated, having to move their games because our field was unplayable, years ago,” she said.

She then asked if the proposed fee was similar to what LC had paid prior to the renovations, and Schneider said he didn’t know that number, but the charge was "in line with” the fees LC currently pays to rent the stadium at another nearby district. Committee chair Cathy Wesley asked if similar requests could follow from other organizations, and Schneider said he thought the stadium could also be used by regional organizations such as PIAA, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, for tournaments such as football, soccer or track using the new facilities, some of which staff could approve under the fee schedule.

"Not all of the events would typically come forward, to the board. This would come forward, because of the change in fees,” he said.

Wesley said she thought the renovations had produced "a really wonderful stadium, and I think the more use it gets, is what this board had anticipated.” Board member Jonathan Kassa asked if the $1,500 fee was comparable to the district’s private or nonprofit rates, and Schneider said it followed the nonprofit rate, not including the additional staff costs.

"We would have our grounds department available for cleanup: after the football game, we have to empty the trash, clean up around the stadium, things like that. Those hourly rates would be paid by Lansdale Catholic,” he said.

Kassa then asked if district security staff would also be involved, and Schneider said they would: each week high school administrators and district security staff meet to discuss upcoming events, and any security needs or concerns, and district secondary administrator Pete Nicholson added that those meetings also typically include the applicant.

"It is very typical that we would have members from the outside organization come in, a couple weeks in advance potentially walk them around the venue as part of that review, look at security planning, give them tips and things they may not have considered,” Nicholson said.

Kassa then asked if the rental would include the stadium’s concession stands, and Schneider said he’d verify whether North Penn booster clubs store food or equipment in the stadium, and/or would be willing to staff that stand during LC games. As for the timing of the request, Superintendent Todd Bauer added that the district had held talks with LC about a rental before the latest fee schedule was adopted in spring 2023, "and Lansdale Catholic had already made arrangements for this past football season,” thus talks on starting rentals in fall 2024 instead.

"This has been in the works for a long, long time,” Bauer said.

Wesley asked if staff had a checklist of questions or concerns that any applicant would need to address for such rentals, and Schneider said he and staff would formalize one, and present back to the committee at a future meeting. Board member Juliane Ramic asked if the district had looked at whether the dates requested by LC conflict with any other events by non-football teams or clubs, and Nicholson said LC has already confirmed those dates with high school staff and selected those that work for all involved.

"None of this would be in any conflict with any of our athletes, with any of our music programs. These were the dates that were open, and available for them to use our stadium,” Nicholson said.

The facilities and operations committee voted unanimously to recommend the rental request and fee change for full board approval.

North Penn’s school board next meets at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 at the district Educational Services Center, 401 E. Hancock Street, and the facilities and operations committee next meets at 7 p.m. on Feb. 26 online. For more information visit www.NPenn.org.

This article appears courtesy of a content share agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. To read more stories like this, visit www.thereporteronline.com.