Flood waters over winter break reached as high as 20 ft., which almost completely covered the bleachers at the St. Louis Soccer Park in Fenton, the home of Gorlok soccer.
Repairs to the damaged turf, bleachers and equipment including damages to the park’s main building are going to cost an estimated $1 million, according to reports from St. Louis Scott Gallagher, a soccer club in the St. Louis area.
In an interview with KMOX, St. Louis Football Club and Scott Gallagher Soccer Club Executive Director Pat Barry said the soccer park did not have any insurance that would cover the cost of flood damage. With the facility being in a floodplain, the cost of insurance was too expensive.
Scott Kilgallon, athletic director at Webster University, said the university is not responsible for covering any of the damage to the facilities, but that he is willing to help in any way he and the athletic department can.
“It would kind of be like Webster Worldwide. It would be volunteer,” Kilgallon said. “We would get some people together. Whatever they need – painting, cleaning, stuff that we can do that’s not putting our kids and coaches in harm’s way.”
Webster is responsible for covering the cost of any of their equipment that was damaged inside the park’s main building. Kilgallon noted items such as chairs in the locker room, athletic training equipment and the storage shed that were washed away.
Luigi Scire, head coach of the women’s soccer team, kept up with the flood levels over break. The day before the park flooded, Scire removed all the team jerseys, saving them from water damage.
The soccer park was in the process of removing some of the turf when the floods came, washing away any loose areas of the pitch.
If the fields are not repaired in time for the upcoming season, Kilgallon said they have other options lined up to avoid playing all away games, but did not want to disclose any locations until the decision of playing somewhere else absolutely needs to be made.
St. Louis Scott Gallagher is fundraising to help support the rebuilding effort. Kilgallon also said they would be willing to take any other volunteers to help in the rebuilding of the home of the Webster University Gorloks.
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