Putnam Stadium ready for Friday kickoff after renovation

ASHLAND, Ky. (WSAZ) - This Friday night, the Ashland Tomcats will be walking into a stadium with a fresh new look.

Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Putnam Stadium, formerly Putnam Stadium, now has artificial turf, new lights, sound systems and a jumbotron scoreboard. The Tomcat team will also walk by a brand-new statue on their way down to the field.

“We have the Tomcat statue with a phrase on here from Coach Bill Tom Ross who was actually an assistant coach when I played here back in the mid-70′s so the players will see this when they go down, and they’ll touch that and they go down to the brand-new field,” Greg Jackson said.

Jackson is an Ashland Paul Blazer High School alumnus and a member of the Ashland Putnam Stadium Restoration Foundation. Since 2007, the group has worked diligently to raise funds in an effort to restore the stadium and keep it up to date.

Since 1937, the stadium has been a gem of Kentucky high school football. The storied venue underwent a major facelift in 2013 when it was totally rebuilt with upgraded locker rooms and concessions.

That was phase one of the project. Phase two brings the new changes that Tomcat players and fans will see on Friday.

“And just the whole Tomcat nation, you see them drive by in droves to look at the stadium now. I think they’re all gonna be excited about it now,” Greg Jackson said. As a member of the 1975 football team, he says this project is special to him.

“It means a lot to me in the fact that the committee came together, and the school board doesn’t just last a year or two. It’s gonna last for decades to come,” Jackson said.

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