Tarentum officials are promising Dreshar Stadium, or at least the property that houses the 85-year-old venue, will be the jewel of a newly designed borough riverfront.

They’re so confident, in fact, the borough is passing on a chance at $250,000 to fix up the aging stadium and sports field.

Instead of applying for the money through a state Parks and Recreation grant, officials want to hold off in favor of larger regional riverfront planning with Cheswick.

The boroughs are planning for joint riverfront development and, just last week, were awarded a $50,000 state Fish and Boat Commission grant to launch a study on how to boost public access to the water and how to best spur spending in local towns.

The municipalities will share the grant to plan fishing and boating access points, along with other amenities.

“We should table the grant for right now,” Councilman Kevin Bertocki said of the Dreshar Stadium grant.

Council said during its meeting Tuesday that it makes more sense to see what engineers propose for the stretch of land.

“I think we’re better off to wait and see what happens with that,” council Vice President Lou Ann Homa said.

Dreshar Stadium, which sits near the Brackenridge line, drew crowds to the area for decades, first as a football stadium and later for Little League baseball.

Most recently, it has been used by the Rams Youth Football Organization for practices. Mike Naviglia, board president for the Rams, said he hopes the property continues to offer outdoor recreation, if not exclusively for football.

“We think a multiuse facility would be great,” Naviglia said. “That way, anybody can use it. We are 100% behind it being a multipurpose spot.”

Said council President Scott Dadowski: “Knowing that we just got a grant for riverfront development and that the trail is coming through, and that the park is on the river where the trail will be, I think we should wait to apply for any grants.”

Dadowski also serves on the Rams board.

“As much as I would love to see it be an awesome football stadium, I would hate to spend any kind of money and then, five years down the line, the trail comes through and we have to change everything.”

Mayor Bob Lang said Dreshar sits on “prime real estate,” and the area is a great opportunity to attract spending to the borough.

Public opinion should be taken into consideration, he added.

“It’s on the river, and that space will be included in any master plan,” Dadowski said.

Officials say they have no doubt the space will anchor future projects.

“We could rehab it, tear it down or do something else entirely. There are different opinions on what should happen there,” borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said.

“This is a conversation to be had with council and the public.”

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