Friday night lights back at East Nashville for first time in 32 years with new stadium

The grass has been cut.

The bleachers have been pressure-washed.

The finishing touches may not be completed by kickoff, but there will be high school football played on East Nashville Magnet's campus Friday night.

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"I have so many emotions," said Junior Ward, 76, a 1960 East High graduate who played football at the school. "I'm so happy for the students to have a place to call their own.

"We'll have a lot of alumni there. We are so excited about having everything back on campus."

East Nashville hosts Brainerd at 7 p.m.

"It's surreal," East Nashville coach Brian Waite said. "I remember standing on the hill when I interviewed for the job. I tried to visualize what this place could look like.

"I was just a little old assistant at the time. I hate to say it's a dream come true, because that's embellishing a little bit. But we are seeing something that we wished for and hoped for come true." 

Construction workers labored furiously on Wednesday to finish different parts of the stadium. Signs of construction will likely remain at kickoff. But games can be played.

The last football game at East High was in 1985, and the school closed in 1986 with the building becoming East Middle. J.J. Keyes Stadium, which seated 5,500 and was considered the top prep stadium in the area, was later torn down, and Ross Elementary School was built in its place.

"There were four tunnels coming out from the bleachers," Ward recalled of the old stadium. "There was a big press box. There was not another one like it in the United States — I guarantee that."

The former East High building eventually transitioned into East Literature Magnet. The school is now known as East Nashville Magnet.

Football returned to East Nashville in 2008, but home games were played at TPS Complex. However, seven years ago an effort led by Ward and other alumni began to bring football back to the campus. 

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"(TPS) was just so tiny," East Nashville principal Steve Ball said. "We couldn't host games where we knew there would be a large crowd.

"Junior came up to me after the game and said, 'This is nuts. We've got to get a stadium back on campus.' I told him that I was all in."

Ward was at the game as a Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association referee supervisor. He had visited with other alumni attending the game.

"That night I was there, the band was there and had been playing, 'Forward Eagles,' that's the fight song. We all stood around and cried. We had to do something.

"The East community was behind us. They would volunteer to do things. Our theme was to bring Friday night lights back to East Nashville."

Then Mayor Megan Berry and Metro government helped speed up the process.

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Metro government budgeted $2.75 million for a stadium last year. Construction began in April.

"The kids will rally around this, to not have to leave campus to go to a (home) athletic event," Ball said.

The stadium is located between Ross Elementary and East Nashville Magnet. It's  unique to others in the Nashville area. It has both a press box and a skybox that will be used to cater for alumni groups, birthday parties or other functions during games. 

Ball said the school will also tie into local businesses at the concession stand. Fans will be able to purchase drinks at one window and typical concession stand food at another window while a third window will offer food from a local business.

"We wanted a way to tie local businesses back into the school," Ball said. "It's like a pro experience."

Reach Tom Kreager at tkreager@tennessean.com or 615-259-8089 and on Twitter @Kreager.