MOUNT HOPE, WV (SWVO) – Tucked into the hills of Fayette County (literally), Lonnie Warwick-Mount Hope Municipal Stadium, recently renamed after former Mount Hope football and NFL star Lonnie Warwick, stands as a result of community spirit, Depression-era resilience, and architectural creativity.
Designed in 1933 by local father-and-son duo George Siems Sr. and Jr., the stadium’s roots are firmly tied to the town’s identity.
The elder Siems, a civil engineer, worked with his son—a high school student with a passion for medieval architecture—to craft the stadium’s distinctive design.
Their vision became a reality thanks to $1,000 in community donations, which funded the purchase of a 4.5-acre plot.
The Hatfield Construction Company began building shortly after, completing the project in 1936 with the help of immigrant Italian stonemasons who meticulously shaped and laid sandstone blocks from the area.
One of the stadium’s most prominent features is its massive ashlar wall and a castle-like entrance flanked by crenellated towers.
Stone removed during construction was later repurposed to pave several streets in Mount Hope, a reflection of the efficiency and communal effort behind the project.
Funding for the work came largely from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.
For decades, the stadium served as the home field for the Mount Hope Mustangs, hosting football games and other high school athletic events until the school closed in 2011.
George Siems Jr. even played on the field he helped design, once scoring a touchdown during a high school game. In 1946, an additional 1.1 acres of land were added to expand the facility.
The stadium has since found a new life as home to the Mount Hope Youth Football League.
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