Houck Stadium undergoes face lift

~ Southeast has spent $2 million for renovations to its football facilities

The Southeast Missouri State football team played like champions last season, winning the program's first Ohio Valley Conference title and earning the program's first playoff berth of any kind.

Now the Redhawks will be able to utilize facilities that, while maybe not yet championship-caliber, are a lot closer to that level than they have been.

The Redhawks will be greeted by several impressive facility upgrades at Houck Stadium and the Rosengarten Athletic Complex when they report for fall camp Aug. 4.

"It's much needed," Southeast coach Tony Samuel said. "We had a lot of issues."

Facility upgrades at Houck Stadium include new FieldTurf and a new scoreboard Tuesday, July 26, 2011. (Fred Lynch)

A state-of-the-art video scoreboard, FieldTurf surface and new lighting have been installed at Houck Stadium. Houck also has been repainted.

"The turf looks good. It will be important," Samuel said. "The scoreboard is a nice addition."

The FieldTurf was a necessity because Houck Stadium's original artificial playing surface, installed more than a decade ago, had become so worn that it was potentially dangerous from an injury standpoint.

"It was real worn out," All-American junior safety Tylor Brock said. "It's going to be nice to play on the new one."

Houck Stadium featured a temporary scoreboard the past three years that was among the smallest in college football.

The original scoreboard was removed before the 2008 season because of construction of a dormitory at the west end of Houck Stadium. The ground floor of the building houses a game-day locker room and athletic training room for the football program.

"It's really nice," Brock said of the new scoreboard. "I couldn't believe they actually went through with that."

Improvements to the Rosengarten Athletic Complex, which are nearly complete, include a renovated locker room with more than double the space of the previous one and renovated coaches offices, meeting rooms and athletic training areas.

"The locker room was real cramped," Brock said.

Southeast players and coaches spend much more time at the Rosengarten Athletic Complex -- where the practice fields are located -- than they do at Houck Stadium.

"The locker room is going to be real nice," Samuel said. "It was so tight in there. It's going to be a lot better for the players.

"I think all that is a huge morale boost, and functional as well."

Samuel said the improved facilities already have benefited recruiting.

"It helped us when we were able to show [potential recruits] the plans," Samuel said.

The upgrades are part of the university's $59 million-plus campuswide renovation plan that included more than $2 million in renovations to Houck and Rosengarten.

"It's a step in the right direction, but there's still a lot of work to do," Samuel said.

Brock said he appreciates the university's support for the football program with the upgraded facilities as the Redhawks prepare for their Sept. 3 season opener at home against regional rival Southern Illinois, but he knows wins can't be bought.

"It's nice, but it won't affect how we play," he said.