Sinkholes at Tacoma's iconic Stadium Bowl won't wash out season



TACOMA -- School officials at Stadium High School announced Friday that several sinkholes found in the playing surface at the iconic bowl will be fixed soon and the field will be ready next week.

A massive torrential rain in November caused thousands of gallons of water to flood the landmark stadium bowl. Officials believe that storm sent dirt, sand and rocks into the drainage system and created three sinkholes under the track and turf.

The Stadium High School Bowl after heavy rains in November 2014.





One four-foot hole was on the 15-yard line.

Officials brought in engineers to inspect the dirt below the surface and determined the playing surface was safe.

District officials plan to fill the holes and have the field ready for play on Sept. 11.

District spokesman Dan Voelpel said, "If there were some sinkholes that had been undetected we couldn’t have any of our student athletes stepping in any of those holes, potentially injuring themselves. So we shut the whole place down. Locked the gates."

Stadium High School football and soccer teams schedules were in jeopardy if other holes were found.

Now seniors like Kristi Williams will get the thrill of playing on their home turf.

"If we weren’t able to play at that stadium, it,s not really a senior night at your home field," Williams said.