Damage at Stegeman moves graduation exercises for Clarke and Oconee schools

The University of Georgia has closed Stegeman Coliseum after a piece of the ceiling fell Wednesday. But officials are silent on the extent of damage, though events scheduled at the facility in the next three months were cancelled.

The Clarke County School District and Oconee County School District were both notified Friday that Stegeman will not be available for high school graduations planned there in late May, according to an e-mail from the districts.

The Clarke school district reported it is working with administrators at both Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals high schools to make different arrangements for the graduation ceremonies.

Stegeman closed:UGA closes Stegeman Coliseum indefinitely after ceiling piece fell

The Oconee district announced Friday that the Oconee County High School graduation will take place at 7:30 p.m. May 19 in Warrior Stadium, with a weather make-up date of 10 a.m. May 20. The graduation at North Oconee High is set for 7:30 p.m. May 20 in Titan Stadium, with a weather date of 7:30 p.m. May 21.

UGA, which only reported that the coliseum is closed “until further notice,” would not disclose Friday what type of material fell from the ceiling. They did say it was “small.” The Banner-Herald asked the communications department to describe the fallen material, but an employee couldn't offer an explanation. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported the material was concrete.

UGA initially made the damage known when it released a statement Thursday that the UGA gymnastics meet with Arkansas, originally planned for Friday, was moved to Sunday at the Gas South Arena in Duluth due to unexpected maintenance inside the coliseum.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Graduations for Athens, Oconee schools moved due to Coliseum damage