The south bleachers at Wilmington’s Baynard Stadium have been condemned as potentially unsafe, costing the facility nearly half its seating capacity.
Century Engineering ordered the bleachers closed immediately following its structural assessment of them this week.
“There’s just a significant amount of rust and failure and just a lot of sections that have lost integrity over time," said Cindy Todd with DNREC's Division of Parks and Recreation.
Todd adds the Division of Parks and Recreation is trying to determine if games need to be moved, rescheduled or cancelled.
The stadium is losing 2,000 seats until a solution can be found. The Division hopes to have temporary bleachers in the stadium by fall.
Five First State schools - Salesianum, Delaware Military Academy, Howard, St. Elizabeth and St. Mark's - regularly use the facility for games.
Parks and Rec is also working to secure funding for a permanent solution, which is expected to take at least a year.
In the mean time, Todd says they will eventually install temporary seating, though it wouldn’t hold as many people as it does now.
“I don’t think it’s going to handle 2,000 on that side. Temporary seating is a different animal, so if I get half of that I think that would be great. At least we would have seating on that side,” she said.
The stadium’s north bleachers are still in use, but need to be modified to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act.