Houck Stadium deterioration prompted public changes

About 24 hours before the season-opening kickoff, Southeast Missouri State University officials pronounced portions of Houck Stadium unsafe.

President Carlos Vargas released a statement on the situation.

"A recent structural assessment has revealed the stadium's south grandstand structure has surpassed its original useful life and the rate of deterioration of the concrete structure has accelerated. The safety of our fans is of utmost importance and, as a result, we have made the difficult decision to cease use of the south grandstand and press box area of our stadium. This decision will result in modified game-day operations and reduced spectator capacity for the fall 2021 season," he said.

The stadium is 91 years old.

Athletic director Brady Barke addressed the situation Thursday morning with SEMO ESPN radio.

"The south press box and grandstand is an area we have deemed to be structurally unsafe for us to utilize," he said. "It doesn't warrant us looking at trying to make repairs and renovate it. People's safety is more important than seeing how many people we can get in the gate."

Barke said university officials have hired outside firms to assess the stadium in recent years. He said a 2019 assessment found the stadium to be in "poor condition." An assessment earlier this summer pointed to worsening conditions.

"It indicated that it wasn't in good shape and deterioration had accelerated," he said. "We opted to bring another company in and have a second assessment done. We received that [Wednesday], and it confirmed our decision making."

Barke noted university officials had been planning for such a scenario.

"The good news is we have been anticipating that this could happen, and so we have been trying to make some adjustments," he explained. "I think we are in a pretty good spot."

He said he expected Thursday night's game against Southern Illinois University to be a "normal" game.

"Tonight is going to have a really good environment. It is going to be electric, It is just going to be different than what it has been."