Seating at Pat Parker Closed Off
By Mark Darnell
A portion of the home seating at Pat Parker Stadium in Lafayette has been closed off by the Macon County Board of Education due to safety concerns this past week.
The decision comes amid concerns for the approximately 75 year old facility and its block construction. Periodically the facility must have a structural inspection to certify that it is safe for use. The past couple of inspections have been mixed.
Local engineering firm, Mid-Tenn Engineering, has been advising the Board for a number of years. At the work session last week Jared Claiborne was on hand to update the Board.
The last structural engineer that certified the stadium has now retired and another one out of Nashville is scheduled to look at the stadium this week. In abundance of caution, Mid-Tenn recommended roping off a section of seating on the home side of the stadium, which will take up approximately 150 seats in the middle of the home side. Which was done before the Junior High first home game.
The concern stems from the safety of the block support wall supporting these seats. To complicate matters there are bathrooms and visitor dressing rooms which have been built underneath this section.
To adequately inspect or repair anything these facilities would have to be removed.
Claiborne also noted that the fencing around the perimeter of the block bleacher seating needed some attention.
At the meeting on August 7th Claiborne stated that his firm would absolutely be unable to certify the facility, as has been their position for a number of years. They would be willing to try and help in any way possible but Mid TN’s position would continue to be that they did not feel comfortable certifying the facility.
Concerns stem from the potential for a serious accident. In 2023 metal bleachers at Beech High School in nearby Sumner County collapsed one week before their home football season was set to begin due to heavy rain and wind. Luckily no one was in the stadium at the time of the collapse.
Beech High School’s games were moved to another field in Sumner County. Beech High School was built in the early 1980s and their stadium was decades newer than Pat Parker Memorial Stadium.
In addition the only other regulation football field in Macon County would be at Red Boiling Springs High School.
Currently this facility supports football programs at Macon County High School and Macon County Junior High as well as hundreds of kids in the Macon County Pee Wee Football program.
This will be a fluid situation in the coming months. The public is asked to please respect the areas that have been roped off and be mindful of fencing around the perimeter of the seating area. Please also inform your family members of the situation as well.
