Re-Opening of the Festus Football Stadium Delayed One Week
The Festus R-VI School District announced today that the opening of its newly renovated football stadium will be postponed one week, and will now welcome fans for the first time on Friday, September 7, 2018. The ambitious construction schedule began in late March with the demolition of the old bleachers and press box. Over the summer the project encountered unavoidable delays caused by weather and a large, unanticipated amount of rock that had to be excavated. "Our contractor, Ed Boyer, worked extremely hard to meet the August 31st target date,” said Festus Athletic Director Eric Allen. “He was the only person to step forward to say he could even come close to meeting our deadline."
The decision to postpone the opening date is being made now to give everyone involved plenty of time to adjust their schedules. Superintendent Dr. Link Luttrell said, "It would have been unfair to wait until next week to make the decision. By acting now, we can adequately plan to welcome Tiger fans into the new stadium on September 7th. We want to make sure when we open the stadium, we are giving our fans the best possible experience." The new stadium opening date coincides with Twin City Days, a large community-wide celebration.
The Tigers' home opener against Sullivan High School will now be moved to Crystal City's J.J. Commerford Stadium on Friday, August 31st at 7:00 p.m. The stadium renovation is among many ongoing capital improvement projects, including enhanced security, additional classroom space, and a number of technology improvements that were made possible when voters approved Proposition 1 in April 2017.