In a scathing letter to the Prichard’s Mayor and council members, Vigor High school principal Gerald Cunningham said their football team would no longer play games at Prichard Stadium, citing deplorable conditions that the city refuses to address.
“My letter says it all,” said Cunningham when asked if he wanted to elaborate. “I was very clear.”
Vigor is off this week but will play its Oct. 1 scheduled home game against Escambia County at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Beyond that, though, Ladd manager Vic Knight said nothing has been worked out through the remainder of their season.
The Wolves have only one other home game remaining on their schedule – Oct. 23 vs. St. Michael.
Cunningham’s letter read, in part:
"This letter serves as official notice of C. F. Vigor High School’s withdrawal from completing the 2020-21 football season at Prichard Stadium. The decision was made due to experiencing, for several seasons, a lack of critical necessities needed to compete. A nonfunctioning scoreboard, twenty-five (25) second clock, public address/sound system, leaning goal post, outdated and inadequate locker rooms and restrooms are just a few concerning issues.
"Our first game of the 2020-21 football season was played Friday, September 4, 2020 against W.S. Neal (Brewton, AL). While singing the National Anthem, the sound system was not working properly and everything was unintelligible. The scoreboard worked for approximately ten (10) minutes and then stopped prior to the start of the game. The officials had to be timekeepers and scorekeepers on the field. The twenty-five (25) second clock did not function the entire game. Coaches in the Press Box called to inform me of the noticeably deplorable conditions. It was unsanitary, filled with trash, items were covered in spider webs and there were visible holes in the ceiling. The conditions were so inadequate that the visiting team’s staff chose not to use the area.
“The inadequate conditions of this stadium and the environment is extremely embarrassing to my coaching staff, football teams, student body, faculty/staff, visiting friends and family, citizens of Prichard as well as the City of Prichard.”
The Prichard Public Works Department oversees upkeep of the stadium, but its superintendent Fernando Billups referred all calls to Mayor Jimmie Gardner.
RELATED: 5 Games to Watch in Mobile this week
“Over the years, Vigor High School along with LeFlore and other schools have utilized Prichard Stadium for their games,” Gardner said. "The city has allowed that to take place through the council under a contract in the previous years.
“This last time that they had the game Mr. Cunningham is speaking about, prior to the game coaches … as well as himself … had an opportunity to review the stadium and, if it wasn’t what they thought it was, they certainly had an opportunity to preview things and talk about it then instead of bringing this discussion out in public. They could’ve said ‘Nope. Don’t want to play.’”
Prichard City Council woman Severia Campbell-Morris said it doesn’t take a lot of money to do the basics.
“You don’t have to have money to go in with some soap and clean things and sanitize things,” she said. "So, it’s just a bad situation. But I will always be supportive of both of the schools. It’s just unfortunate that we find ourselves in discussion in public.”
Gardner noted that the city received only about $20,000 last year from the Mobile County School System to maintain the facility, with the individual school taking in money from concessions and parking. He added that the money goes primarily for grass cutting, lights, water and pay for who to clean up after games.
Mobile County School Board member Dr. Reginald Crenshaw, whose District 3 includes Prichard, said there may be some contractual ties keeping the city from taking ownership of the stadium, but said he’s already looking into a remedy for the future.
“I’m going to look into what it’ll take to build an on-campus facility at Vigor," he said.
First-year Vigor coach John McKenzie tried to steer clear of anything other than what happens on the field.
“All we’ve been working on is trying to make this football team better,” he said in reference to his staff’s approach to the 1-2 Wolfpack.
“We just have to make adjustments and put our kids in a better situation.”
Former Auburn and Vigor star reacted to the news on his Twitter account Wednesday morning.
"This is long over due, "Anderson wrote. “The city should be ashamed of not adding 1 freaking upgrade all these years for those kids . Outside people have done more for Vigor than the city. Tired of seeing that stadium when you drive home to Alabama or leaving . So my history there.”
