For 50-plus years, Bloomington Jefferson and Bloomington Kennedy high schools have used an old stadium from the former Lincoln High School, near 90th Street and Penn Avenue S., as the city’s football hub on Friday nights.

Lincoln High closed in 1982. Kennedy opened in 1965, and Jefferson in 1970.

The old stadium, known as Bloomington Stadium, has crumbling cement steps and underground locker rooms without running water or toilets. It would have cost the school district millions of dollars to retrofit.

In July 2024, the Bloomington City Council approved plans to build two new on-campus stadiums. The price was $6.3 million.

Bloomington’s decision to build two stadiums “needed to happen,” Jefferson activities director Chad Nyberg said.

“If we were going to cut cords, we both needed places to be,” he said.

Both new stadiums will have lights, new turf, seating for 2,500, new sound and lighting systems, a press box, concessions and a ticket and entry plaza.

To much delight, construction began this year on May 12, after the lacrosse and track and field seasons. But weather and construction delays have forced Kennedy and Jefferson to postpone grand openings for the stadiums.

Kennedy now plans to play the first varsity football game at its new stadium Sept. 12, when the Eagles face Tartan. There was hope that Jefferson could open its stadium that day, but it remains under construction.

“There is some optimism [Jefferson’s] stadium will be ready for a final inspection late next week,” said Rick Kaufman, executive director of community relations for Bloomington Public Schools.

But Kaufman said Jefferson won’t play football or soccer in its own stadium until at least the week of Sept. 15. Jefferson’s next scheduled football home game after that is Sept. 26.

Heavy summer rains derailed plans to open both stadiums for the season’s first home games, and Jefferson’s project has been particularly challenging with the need for added retaining walls.

Kennedy was scheduled to unveil its new stadium on the first night of the season, Aug. 28 vs. Minneapolis Roosevelt, but that game moved to Bloomington Stadium.

Jefferson was slated to open its stadium this Friday against Hastings. But that game also was moved to Bloomington Stadium. So the old relic of a football venue is still in use.

“Bloomington Stadium has served its purpose for 50-plus years,” Kaufman said. “But it’s no longer sufficient to meet not only the needs but the expectations of our students and athletes and coaches partly because the facility is so old that it needs significant upgrades and repairs.”

Bloomington didn’t hold a separate referendum for the two-stadium project. The $6.3 million came from the school district’s long-term facilities management plan.

“Anything that we would want to do cosmetically, or even like putting running water in, we would have to go through an entire permitting process with the city of Bloomington,” Kaufman said. “So we would have to sink in millions and millions of dollars to retrofit the whole stadium.

“We felt, after looking at it for two years, it was best that we moved the stadium and create new stadium experience at our high schools.”

Jareck Horton, Kennedy’s new AD, is looking forward to keeping the Eagles’ home games on their campus, where the logo is painted on the 50-yard line.

“You’re really never at home if you have to go somewhere, right?” Horton said. “Especially when you’re when you’re in a shared facility like Kennedy and Jefferson.”

On Oct. 15, these two rivals will meet for the first time since 2018, with the game scheduled to be played at Jefferson.