Three Tennessee Schools Adjust After Bleachers Inspected, Condemned

Portions of football bleachers at Beech, Hendersonville and Portland high schools in Tennessee will be closed for the upcoming season following an engineer's inspection of the seating.

“Based on preliminary feedback from our structural engineer, we are going to close the home section of bleachers at Beech High School for the remainder of the season,” Sumner County director of schools Scott Langford said in a letter Thursday to the school board, as reported by Main Street Preps of Tennessee. “The structural engineer also recommended closing the visitor bleachers at Hendersonville High School immediately. … It is also necessary to close three sections of the Portland High School home side bleachers.”

The letter included plans to install temporary stands at Beech to accommodate both sides being closed. The Buccaneers saw their visitor bleachers cave in Monday night — caused by heavy wind and rain in the area, Langford said — prompting a structural engineer’s inspection of the rest of Shackle Island Stadium, Blaine Kellar of Main Street Preps reported.

The county’s seven other football stadiums were quickly assessed over the next two days, and a full report is expected to be released early next week.

Gallatin, Station Camp, Liberty Creek, White House and Westmoreland’s facilities all had “either no issues or minor issues,” per Langford’s letter. It will not impact their seasons. 

Portland athletics director Brandon Smart told Main Street Preps the center portion of the school’s home bleachers were condemned Thursday. The press box and steel wings of its home stands are still fit for use.

Per Kellar's report:

• The decision flipped seating arrangements for the Panthers, who will now have their fans sit on the visitor side bleachers starting with Friday’s rivalry game against White House.
• Newer Sumner County schools Liberty Creek and Station Camp have metal seating, which made them less prone to a collapse like Beech’s.
• Westmoreland updated its seating similarly within the last two decades, and Gallatin reconstructed its visitor section this offseason. The Green Wave home stands are held together by steel and railroad ties but reportedly passed the county’s early assessment.

“Our commitment is first and foremost to protect the safety of our students and community members,” Langford wrote to school board members. “I will share and review the full report with all of you once we receive it. I will also be working on a long-term plan to address these issues that I will present to the board in the near future.”