Historic Carthage stadium deemed unsafe for occupancy
Feb. 12—CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Carthage Tigers baseball program has been left homeless after Carthage's city engineer declared Carl Lewton Stadium "unfit and unsafe for occupancy," and the city closed the stadium to games.
School Superintendent Mark Baker said the district is talking with surrounding communities about places to play this upcoming baseball season after the city notified the district that the city-owned stadium could not be used to host games this year because of serious safety and accessibility concerns.
The Tigers baseball season starts March 18 with the first home game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. March 21 against the Monett Cubs.
"(City Administrator) Greg Dagnan contacted me on Wednesday giving me the heads-up that potentially the city was going to shut down the Rock," Baker said, using a common nickname for the almost-90-year-old stadium. "I appreciated the heads-up so I could work on finding places to play our games. Our first home game is during spring break. We have a little over a month to get our schedule either changed or new places to play. Basically we're going to have to play away games every night this year."
New Carthage Parks and Recreation Director Abi Almandinger said it was not her intent to see the stadium closed when she asked the city engineer, Jason Eckhart, to inspect the facility.
Almandinger was hired Dec. 28, 2022.
"I am new to the Parks and Rec role, and as such I took my staff to go on a tour of our facilities and find out what I'm going to be caring for over the next several years," Almandinger said. "When I walked into the stadium and realized it was in pretty serious disrepair, my intent was to try and fix it for the upcoming ball season at least a little bit or as much as we could to make it look a little bit better than its current state. Of course, people have been talking for years about the state of the stadium."
Almandinger said she also asked the city engineer to give her an estimate on the cost to make some repairs.
"We're not talking grandiose, just a little bit to get it fixed up," Almandinger said. "That's when we had a professional assessment and our city engineer said this is unfit and unsafe for occupancy."
Eckhart, in a letter to the city, listed the deficiencies:
—The ingress/egress ramps exceed the maximum allowable slope for wheelchair accessibility; there is no landing area provided along the slope run, and clearings at the ends of the ramps are inadequate. The seating area, concession area and restrooms are not Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant.
—There are several locations within the seating area where a vertical drop in the concrete bleachers exceeds the maximum allowed without a guard railing being in place to prevent falls, and locations where the guard railings that are in place do not meet minimum required heights.
—The concrete stairs accessing the bleacher seating do not have handrails in place, which are required by code for this type of facility.
—Concrete walking surfaces were observed to have settled in several locations, creating potential trip hazards.
—Many of the built-in seats appeared to be in disrepair.
—The electrical wiring servicing the stadium does not meet current code requirements, including exposed wiring and lack of proper grounding, which could pose a shock hazard.
—In the locker rooms, restrooms and the concession area room underneath the stadium seating, rainwater has infiltrated through the concrete and rock and has created an environment that has facilitated heavy mold growth, which could have negative health effects through mold exposure to the users of the facility.
"Until extensive renovations, retrofits and/or repairs are made to the existing stadium, which may be difficult to achieve given the age and deteriorated condition of the structure, it is my opinion that the facility should be declared unfit and unsafe for occupancy," Eckhart wrote at the end of the letter.
Almandinger acknowledged that many of the problems may have existed at the stadium for years.
"We had all heard it was bad. We just never had an expert professionally assess it," she said. "Once that happened, it was deemed unsafe and at that point, we have no choice. Once we've been told a building is unsafe for occupancy, there are no ifs, ands or buts; we are required to close it."
The city has said the school district could use Carl Lewton Stadium as a practice field and use the newer metal buildings the district has built on-site, but the stands and all structures owned by the city are off limits.
Baker said the Carthage School District has spent about $200,000 on new dugouts and storage buildings at the stadium over the past decade or so.
While a new baseball stadium at the Carthage High School is listed as a project that could be funded if voters pass a $26 million school bond issue that will be on the ballot in April, Baker said the finding doesn't change the district's priorities and focus on building a performing arts center first and a new baseball field second.
During past school board meetings, Baker has estimated that a new baseball stadium will cost between $4 million and $5 million and would likely be funded partially by private donations.
"If the bond issue passes, the baseball field would not be completed before May of 2024 at the earliest," Baker said. "Unless the city changes its mind regarding shutting down Rock stadium, we will have at least this year and next season to find places to play. It's definitely a challenging time for our coaches and players."
Carl Lewton Stadium was also Carthage High School's football field before the construction of K.E. Baker Stadium in the 1960s, and it has hosted thousands of games and events over almost nine decades.
"It's a sad day. It is not what I thought was going to happen," Almandinger said. "I know how important this is to the community. I myself have been a huge proponent of history and preserving things. ... The primary thing is we can't have someone getting hurt. and once we're aware of the severity of the situation, we just can't have people in there."
