LINESVILLE — The former Linesville High School will undergo a series of changes in the next few months as its transformation into Conneaut Area High School continues.

But in the eyes of many, the most significant change has already taken place.

On Saturday morning, about 50 people from the former Linesville, Conneaut Lake and Conneaut Valley attendance areas joined together to help repaint the football stadium press box, softball and baseball dugouts and ticket booth at Linesville.

Areas once coated in Linesville orange and black now stand gray with black and royal blue accents. The large lion mural that covered the center of the press box for decades? Gone. The words “Lion Pride”? Gone.

They’ve been painted over.

“A lot of people were struggling to paint over the lion,” Conneaut Area High School Athletic Director Brandon Crum said. “It was an emotional time for a lot of people. Everyone had their phones out taking pictures.”

CASH senior Mallory Reynolds, who attended Linesville High School, was one of those individuals.

“I got my phone out and took a picture,” she said. “I grew up here … I thought, ‘Oh my goodness. This is really happening.’ ”

Saturday’s event was organized not only to get a significant amount of much-needed work done, but to give students from all three former attendance areas an opportunity to work together and have a hand in the renovation of their new school. And for those who chose to come out and help, the experience was a rewarding one.

“It was a good feeling,” said Hailey Lowery, who had attended Conneaut Lake. “It made everyone realize we needed the change. I’m very happy with the outcome.”

“We all knew we had to make changes,” said CASH head football coach Pat Gould. “And it’s coming along. I think it is what we all expected it to be.”

Work at Linesville is quickly progressing. Not only have the outdoor athletic fields undergone cosmetic changes, the gymnasium also went under a serious makeover this past couple of weeks. The floor — originally covered in orange — has new eagle decals in place and the baseline now bears the word Conneaut.

The padding at each end of the gymnasium is still orange, but will be replaced, Crum said. Parts of the scoreboard and scorer’s table will also have to be changed. And the banners and signs designating all of the success of former athletes and teams at Linesville will eventually come down.

As far as where the banners and trophies of all three schools will reside is still being determined, Crum said. His idea for the new gymnasium is to have two banners depicting the athletic histories of Linesville, Conneaut Lake and Conneaut Valley.

“Maybe we have two banners that say, ‘Our History,’ ” he said. “We’ll have a District 10 girls volleyball championship from Conneaut Lake written in maroon and so forth. Then we’ll start over and put our own records and own championships up on the wall.”

For now, it’s one thing at a time.

“It looks like Santa’s list,” Crum said of the list of things yet to be done. “Every single day we discover something new that needs to be done.”

It is a process, and one that becomes more acceptable to everyone involved as the days progress.

“You hear all the older community members talking about what teams from 30 and 40 years ago did,” CASH head girls basketball coach and assistant football coach Bill Stevenson said. “This team did this in the 1970s. That team did that in the 1960s. Thirty to 40 years from now they’ll be talking about this.”

“We’re going to have to learn an eagle battle cry,” he continued. “Not a lion battle cry.”

Crum said another work session is scheduled for Aug. 11. Community members from the Conneaut Area High School attendance area are encouraged to come out and interract with one another.

“If they can paint together,” Crum said. “They can play together.”

“I’m really excited for the school year,” Reynolds said. “I wish it had been done sooner.”



Lisa Byers can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at lbyers@meadvilletribune.com.



You can help

Another work session at Conneaut Area High School in Linesville is scheduled for Aug. 11 beginning at 8 a.m. For updates on what is happening with CASH athletics, visit “Inside the Eagle’s Nest” at facebook.com/cashathletics.