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Houck Field

from 2020-21 SEMO Soccer Media Guide

by Southeast Missouri Redhawks

from 2020-21 SEMO Soccer Media Guide, page 109

Article from: 2020-21 SEMO Soccer Media Guide

OVC Soccer History

REDHAWK SOCCER

Houck Field turned 90 years old in 2020. The facility has served as the home of Southeast Missouri football since 1930 and became home to SEMO Women’s Soccer after its inception in 1999.

A Formetco Sports digital video scoreboard with a massive screen size of 33’ 6.75” x 52’ 6” is the newest addition to Houck Field. The state-of-the-art video board was installed in April, 2020.

Before that, renovations were made to the press box prior to the 2015 season. Renovations included a new sound system, filming station and carpet among other things to enhance the overall interior and exterior look.

Prior to the 2011 season, Houck Field received a huge makeover when a FieldTurf playing surface, Daktronics video scoreboard and new lighting (which meets television standards) were installed. The facility was also repainted, giving the longtime home to Redhawk Athletics a flashy look.

Houck Field was built at a cost of $150,000 and remains a beautiful and picturesque stadium today.

The dedication game pitted SEMO football and Southern Illinois from nearby Carbondale, Illinois, on Oct. 3, 1930. That game attracted a crowd of over 6,000, with SIU claiming a 12-6 victory. The referee of the inaugural game was James T. Blair, who served as the Governor of Missouri from 1957-61.

Houck Field was constructed on the site of an old rock quarry and was purchased in 1925 for $11,000 at the recommendation of then-college President Joseph A. Serena.

Ten thousand bags of Portland Cement, 23,000 feet of Oregon Fir seat lumber and 150,000 feet of Yellow Pine Form lumber were used in the construction, according to an ad in the Houck Field dedication program. The original stadium included 5,240 seats on the south side of the field.

The field and stadium were named in honor of Louis Houck, who served 39 years as a Regent for the University and President of the Board for all but three of those years.

Seating on the north side of the stadium was added prior to the 1963 season. The press box was later constructed on the south side in 1979. Approximately 400 chairback seats were added to a center section on the south side of the stadium in 1992.

In 2000, the very first FieldTurf playing field was installed and the exterior of the facility was resurfaced. Improvements were also made to the press box at that time.

More upgrades took place in the fall of 2005. Those included a paved parking area adjacent to the east end zone and new parking and landscaping areas surrounding the outside of the stadium.

A state-of-the-art dormitory was built on the west end of the facility in recent years. The ground floor of that building houses a locker room and athletic training facility which the football team uses on gamedays.