A new Slatington High School opened on 28 September 1959 on what was known as Kuehner Hill, the hilltop area to the immediate north of Slatington proper. (That school building is now known as the Northern Lehigh Middle School.) Planning for a new school had begun as early as 1953 and had involved a joining together of the Slatington, Walnutport and Washington Township school districts. That was a complicated and draw-out process. As planning for a new school proceeded, it had been originally assumed that Slatington High would continue to use Victory Park as its athletic field. While the state was providing some of the money for the new high school, the state was unwilling to provide any money for a new athletic field.
But then the school board directors, largely at the prompting of Herman P. Snyder (1912-2009), the high school principal, thought that there might be community interest to have the school's athletic fields located at the new school. And so, in April 1959, the Northern Lehigh Joint School Board authorized a fund drive, headed by Snyder, to raise money for a new stadium to be called “Alumni Field” in honor of past alumni of the school. Snyder remained the driving force in getting the new football field built.
Circa 1970 aerial photo showing the location of Alumni Field to the west of the former high school (now the Northern Lehigh Middle School) in Slatington
The fundraising goal was set at $25,000, and in May 1959, the first contributions were raised from teachers and administrators. That summer initial work of grading and the removal of trees was begun by the Watson Construction Co. of Coopersburg, a subcontractor on the larger school project. The football field was to be located to the west of the school building and a practice field to the north.
Here's a quick timeline of construction.
12 April 1958, formal groundbreaking for the new high school
28 September 1959, the new high school opened for classes
12 November 1959, formal dedication of the new Slatington High School
29 September 1962, the first football game on Alumni Field
9 June 1965, the first high school graduation held on Alumni Field
Alumni Field entrance gate. Source: 1963 Slatington High School yearbook
Work on the field proceeded slowly as money trickled in.
- June 1960, with a total of $9,000 raised, rains delayed final grading of the proposed football field.
- September 1960, with a total of $11,000 raised, the final seeding of the field was completed.
- July 1961, the front entrance and fence were completed. It was decided that the field would not be used until the fall of 1962 even though it was expected to be finished in the fall of 1961.
- May 1962, fundraising for the final $5,000 continued. The new baseball field (to the west of the football field) was completed and used for the spring 1962 season. (I will note that the field was not graded that well. Right field went uphill, and there was a slight downhill slant to left field.) The football practice field (behind the high school) was completed and used for practice.
- July 1962, the cinder track was completed; the parking lot was almost done; the concrete steps down to the field were being installed as well as the refreshment stand; the bleachers were transferred from Victory Park to make a seating capacity of 1,700.
- 14 September 1962, Friday night, East Stroudsburg spoiled the debut of Alumni Field with a crushing 32-6 win.
- 29 September, 1962, Saturday afternoon, Alumni Field was dedicated during halftime of the Lehighton game. Slatington was not really competitive in the game, which was won by Lehighton, 54-6.
Alumni Field photo. Source 1963 Slatington High School Yearbook
After the new field finally opened in the fall of 1962, the funding campaign continued to raise money for additional seats, permanent lighting and a field house.
For example, it was noted that in April 1963, the football practice field, just behind the high school, was tripled in size, graded and seeded. I can attest to the fact (from personal experience) that the seeding never really did take hold, and the field always remained largely dry dirt.
When Alumni Field was used in 1962, there were no lights. Games continued to be held on Saturday afternoons. During the 1963 season, temporary lights were used for some of the games. A more permanent solution became available in 1964.
On 21 July 1964, Herman Snyder announced that the district had agreed to buy lights from Max Hess Stadium for installation at Alumni Field. Then all the home games could be played at night.
Max Hess Stadium aka Breadon Field (1948-1958), was a minor league baseball stadium on the east side of MacArthur Road in Whitehall just north of Allentown (about ½ mile north of Route 22). This is the present-day location of the Lehigh Valley Mall. The field was named for Sam Breadon, the St. Louis Cardinals owner who, in the late 1940s, built the stadium for a Cardinals minor league baseball team. The Cardinals team left in 1952, and in succeeding years different teams used the stadium. Then in 1958, the field and club were bought by Max Hess (1911-1968), the owner of the former Hess's Department store in downtown Allentown. By the early 1960s, there was no team using the field, and Hess looked to sell. The field was demolished in 1964, and the site sold off in 1965.
In the deal for the lights, Slatington acquired 205 lights, 11 poles, transformers and the wire for an undisclosed price. A scoreboard was also bought, as a donation by the class of 1964. The first game at Alumni Field, under the new, permanent lights, was on Saturday, 19 September 1964. Slatington's Larry Parry rushed for three touchdowns and 235 yards on 28 carries in the 19-0 win. It was the first win at Alumni Field in three years, the first win under the new, permanent lights and the first win over East Stroudsburg in fourteen years.
Finally, the last bits of construction occurred in 1965. More bleacher seats were installed on the visitors' side of the field (1,080 seats in a set of 12 rows and 112 feet long) to bring the estimated attendance at the field to about 3,000. For the baseball field, a new backstop was installed and topsoil added. (I will add that in the 1970s there was not much topsoil out on the hill in right field.) For the first time in 1965, baccalaureate (Sunday, 6 June) and commencement (Wednesday, 9 June) exercises were held on the football field.
Herman Peter Snyder (1912-2009) had been a key figure in the creation of Alumni Field.
Current photo of the former location of Alumni Field