NewsAugust 28, 2019
Houck Stadium: A major rebuilding job
When Houck Stadium opened Oct. 3, 1930, it was hailed as one of the best athletic facilities in the Midwest. Today, nearly 90 years later, it is outdated, inadequate and falling apart. Its problems can’t be patched up. Major rebuilding is needed. That’s the reality facing Southeast Missouri State University athletic director Brady Barke as Houck Stadium readies for the opening Redhawks football game of the season Thursday...
When Houck Stadium opened Oct. 3, 1930, it was hailed as one of the best athletic facilities in the Midwest. Today, nearly 90 years later, it is outdated, inadequate and falling apart.
Its problems can’t be patched up. Major rebuilding is needed.
That’s the reality facing Southeast Missouri State University athletic director Brady Barke as Houck Stadium readies for the opening Redhawks football game of the season Thursday.
While there have been improvements over the years — including installation of artificial turf, video scoreboard and new lighting in 2011 — the stadium structure has seen few upgrades.
“The facility needs that we have in the stadium are immediate. There is really no other way around that,” Barke said.
In bad condition
Seating is in bad shape, according to Barke.
And it’s not just the concrete grandstand on the south side, which was the only seating available when the stadium opened in 1930. It is also the north-side seating, which was added in 1962.
“The safety aspect of our stadium is our first concern,” he said. “We need to make sure that we can address that first before the safety of our spectators and fans becomes a serious issue.”
In addition, the stadium is far from handicapped accessible, and restrooms, concession stands and even the press box are inadequate, Barke said.
“If you look at handicapped accessibility in the stadium, it didn’t really exist in 1930,” he said.
University officials aren’t looking for a temporary fix of the stadium, which hosts games for the football and soccer teams. Barke believes short-term repairs would not be a wise expense.
Ross McFerron, who serves on the board of directors of the Redhawks (boosters) Club, said, “That is a stadium that has served us well for 90 years. But I really believe that if we are going to have collegiate football going forward in Cape Girardeau, it is not a matter of ‘if’ there has to be major stadium upgrades, it is a matter of ‘when’ and how are we going to make that happen.”
In May, the university hired Kansas City, Missouri, architectural firm Hollis + Miller at a cost of $180,000 to look at how to improve the stadium.
They met with the various user groups, everyone from “the coaching staff to security, the ticket office, the band, the concession vendors to talk about space needs,” Barke said.
“We have worked through some conceptual designs of what we would maybe like to see. We are not at the point yet where we have actual renderings of what a stadium could look like,” he said.
Barke said possible designs could be unveiled this fall.
As school officials plan for the future, the focus is on more than seating. It’s about fan experience, Barke said.
“It’s not just about sitting in your seat and watching the game and going home,” he said. “The social elements and all of that, we are really lacking in all of those as well.”
Building stadium suites may not be the answer, Barke said.
Spectators at sporting events increasingly want open space to mingle freely as opposed to being confined in suites, he said. “It is a seen and be seen type of mindset.”
“It (football games) has very much become a social event and so we want to make sure that people have the opportunity to interact with one another,” Barke said.
The stadium can seat about 10,000 people, divided about equally between the south-side and the north-side stands.
On deck
“We would still like to be a 9,000- to 10,000-seat stadium,” Barke said.
One possibility would be to place all the seating on the south side, he said.
“We are looking at keeping the total number (of seats), but maybe shifting some people into premium seating option opportunities,” he said.
One possibility could be some type of elevated deck space for fans.
“We are trying to find unique and creative seating opportunities that would help draw people to certain areas, including students,” Barke said.
University officials hope to increase student attendance at athletic events and “get them to congregate together as opposed to being scattered throughout the venues.”
Southeast also is unveiling its Field Goal Club this season, which is “really a ‘toes on the turf’ type of seating” on the west end of the field.
On the east end of the stadium is Touchdown Plaza where booster club members park their vehicles and bring their own food and drinks.
The Field Goal Club will be similar, except it will an all-inclusive area with food and drinks, Barke said.
The club, which can accommodate about 70 people, is sold out.
“It speaks to the fact that people are a looking for something different than just a chair-back seat,” Barke said.
“People want to interact and engage and be part of the experience,” he said.
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The athletic director said an improved stadium could attract more spectators and generate more revenue in ticket and concession sales.
Parking remains an issue
“We do the best with what we have in terms of parking availability,” he said.
Fans have to walk a few blocks to the stadium, but parking is free, which is not the case at many college stadiums, Barke said.
Hefty price tag
It cost $150,000 to construct Houck Stadium, named after a longtime civic leader and president of Southeast’s board of regents.
Rebuilding it will cost millions of dollars.
In April, Barke said the university might launch a $20 million capital campaign to fund improvements to the stadium and other athletic facilities.
But Barke now is reluctant to give a specific number.
“I am not sure at this point (what it will cost),” he said.
Ideally, the university would like to embark on a capital campaign next year, he said.
Now is the time to do it because of last year’s successful football season, according to Barke.
Cape Girardeau Mayor Bob Fox said he doesn’t believe the city is in a position to help fund a stadium project.
“I don’t know financially what the city could do,” he said.
The city funds its construction project with dedicated sales taxes, which are approved by voters, Fox said.
Barke said any new construction would have to occur within the eight months between the end of a football season and the start of the next season.
He added the project possibly could be done in stages.
Houck Stadium is a major landmark along Broadway. A major rebuilding of the stadium could make it “a really strong focal point for this side of campus as well as a really good anchor for downtown Cape Girardeau,” he said.
The stadium entrance includes a tall, concrete archway. Barke said he doesn’t know whether that architectural feature would remain and a new structure built behind it.
School officials are working with the architect to determine the most cost effective and feasible design.
Barke said it is important for such a project to meet the needs of future fans, not just those currently attending games.
Quarry site
McFerron, the Redhawks Club board member, said it is not the aging stadium itself but the location that is iconic to him.
“At the end of the day, if the location stays the same, we can still say we are playing football in the old quarry.”
McFerron said the quarry site is unique.
“I don’t know of any football stadiums in college that are built in quarries,” he said.
When the site was first proposed for the stadium decades ago, many in the community scoffed at the idea of turning a five-acre, rat-infested, water-filled abandoned stone quarry into an athletic facility.
But under the leadership of university president Joseph Serena, the community eyesore was transformed into Houck Stadium.
McFerron said improving the stadium would be a “major investment.” He added, “It is not a Band-Aid. It is not a short-term fix.”
He views it as a good investment for the university and the community.
“When you go into town for the first time, one thing you look at is its college football stadium,” McFerron said.
“I think we are in a moment where the facility has gotten to a spot where it is at the end of its life span and it is our time to meet that need,” he said.
McFerron said he believes a capital campaign could be successful.
“I think the community will rally behind the university like it has so many times,” he said.
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Houck Stadium at a glance
- Opened Oct. 3, 1930, with a 2-mile parade
- Structure cost $150,000
- Built with four railcar loads of steel and 2,250 barrels of concrete
- Initial scoreboard was a duplicate of one in the then-St. Louis municipal stadium
- First night football game was held Oct. 17, 1930
- Stadium initially was intended to seat 16,000, but plans were scaled back
- When it opened, it could accommodate 5,240 spectators, all on the south side
- North-side seating was added in 1962
- A 27-foot-tall fiberglass Indian stood atop the Houck Stadium entrance for 10 years; it was removed in 1991
- Artificial turf, video scoreboard and new lighting added in 2011
Source: Southeast Missourian archives
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