UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS WANT MORE USE OUT OF HOUCK STADIUM

Houck Stadium could become more than just a football field.

It may become the permanent home of Southeast Missouri State University's women's soccer team if the school replaces the stadium's natural grass with synthetic grass.

School officials are exploring that option.

The university had planned to build a natural-grass soccer field on property it owns west of Sprigg and north of Bertling. The school received bids for the project. But the $150,000 project has been put on hold while the school explores the Houck Stadium option, said Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast's president.

If the school settles on the Houck Stadium option, a separate soccer field won't be built. Rather, the university would install a field at Houck Stadium that would accommodate both football and soccer as well as other activities such as band practices.

If all goes well and funding is secured, the field could be installed next year, school officials said.

The size of the field would have to be expanded to accommodate soccer. The asphalt track probably would be removed.

Don Kaverman, Southeast's athletics director, said it would be a shame to renovate the 69-year-old stadium for football use only. The stadium is used for the university and Cape Girardeau Central High School football games. Kaverman said that amounts to 12 football games a year.

Installing artificial grass would allow Houck Stadium to be used more fully and year-round for a wide range of activities. Kaverman said a renovated Houck Stadium could be used for community activities too.

Kaverman said permanent lines could be put down for both soccer and football.

The university administration earlier this summer looked at the possibility of renovating Houck Stadium at an estimated cost of $5.28 million. Most of the money would have to come from private donations as part of a university fund drive. Plans included spending $1.45 million for a synthetic field.

But Dobbins said the university would save money by installing synthetic grass as opposed to a conventional artificial turf. He said synthetic grass would cost about $700,000 to $900,000. Unlike conventional artificial turf, this one doesn't require an asphalt base.

He said synthetic grass is laid over a foundation of sand. Pipes in the ground would drain the surface.

Dobbins said synthetic grass would have that "spongy" feeling like natural grass. The surface is made from a mixture of ground up athletic shoes and silica, said Dobbins.

"It will drain very, very well," he said.

Kaverman said the surface can handle as much as 5 inches of rain an hour.

"This particular product doesn't go down over asphalt like Astroturf does," he said.

"It is much more yielding. It feels like more of a natural surface," said Kaverman. "It looks like grass, plays like grass. It feels like grass," he said. "You don't have to water it. You don't encounter the wear and tear like you get on a natural surface," said Kaverman.

He said experience shows there are fewer injuries on synthetic grass than on natural turf.

The product has been used all over the world, primarily for soccer fields, he said.

American colleges and universities are just beginning to install the fields. The University of Nebraska football team plays on this type of artificial field, Kaverman said. "That is a pretty compelling endorsement."

Kaverman said the university needs to use Houck Stadium as much as possible. "It doesn't make sense just to have it sit there."