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Jacksonville community anticipating Tomato Bowl renovations

The Tomato Bowl is a landmark of downtown Jacksonville with a history that predates America's involvement in WWII. Now, Jacksonville residents are anticipating major renovations meaning to preserve the stadium.

JACKSONVILLE — It is Jacksonville's proudest landmark.

The Tomato Bowl on Austin Street played host to its first game in 1940, before the stadium had even been completed. According to the Jacksonville ISD website, the Fighting Indians hosted Dallas Tech in front of 1,900 fans.

From then on, it is been home to the Jacksonville community, a place of celebration. It's more than merely a place of sport, concerts and city events have all been held inside the bowl.

Matt Montgomery played football for Jacksonville at the Tomato Bowl in the 70s. Beginning in 1982, he began broadcasting games from the stadium.

"I played high school football here and then in 1982 I started broadcasting the football games on our local radio and I've been doing it ever since," Montgomery said. "This will be my 37th year doing the games."

Over his nearly 40-year career, Montgomery saw a lot of great games in the historic stadium. And when the community had to vote on a new stadium, the voters agreed to preserve the landmark of downtown Jacksonville.

"There's so many memories here," Montgomery said. "The voters got it right when they said, 'We want to stay in the Tomato Bowl, stay in Jacksonville downtown.'"

Eight decades after its first game, major renovations are coming to the historic stadium. It will be the first renovation to the stadium since 1980.

"And the consensus of everyone we talked to was if there's any way you can do it within the confines of the historical wall of the Tomato Bowl that was built in 1940, that's what we want to see," Jacksonville ISD superintendent Chad Kelly said.

"Tomato Bowl has been really the same over the last 40 years," Montgomery said. "This is really the first time it's been made over in 38 years. So this Tomato Bowl has basically been the same since I've played here in the mid-70s."

After the end of last year's football season, the town celebrated the renovations coming to the stadium, sending the old Tomato Bowl in style.

"We had a groundbreaking at our last home football game last year. And it was truly an amazing event," Kelly said. "We had balloons going off, fireworks, all the kids participated. So the cheerleaders and the charmers and the football players all got to do the first dig, and so it was really memorable for everybody there."

As crews work to finish the renovations for next season, the town is buzzing with anticipation.

"This bond that is building this stadium passed with 80 percent. Eighty percent of the public said, 'Yes, we want this stadium to be redone.' So that's a pretty positive message that everybody is really excited about what's happening here."

Jacksonville will play its home games at Rose Stadium and Bullard. If all goes to plan, the 2019 season will see six home games.

"You know the kids that are coming up, the sophomores and the juniors, obviously they're going to be really excited," Montgomery said. "I think what's really going to be exciting is when this is completed in the spring and we're able to hold graduation here. And that's going to be the first taste of the stadium for people to actually come in and see what's been done here."

Montgomery says he does feel sympathy for the seniors who will never play another game at the bowl.

"Yeah there's no doubt that the senior class will miss not getting to play here," Montgomery said. "But we're trying to make up for it by letting them graduate here."

When the stadium is completed, Kelly feels confident it will have the approval of the community.

"Much bigger dressing rooms, more concession stands, many, many more restrooms. It's really a complete upgrade to the stadium," Kelly explained.

But the renovation is not about what is new. It's about preserving history.

"One of the great finds that we discovered while doing the redesign of the Tomato Bowl is that the historical commission in Cherokee County actually located the original plans to the Tomato Bowl," Kelly said. "And so we're going to be able to display those plans within the tomato bowl surroundings and so that's really going to highlight what it was and what it is today."

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