Rotting walls, peeling paint, exposed wires, and a graveyard of broken AC units don’t even compare to the sweltering heat that suffocates commentators on Friday nights. The press box is supposed to be the best seat in the house, but as of the last five years, this couldn’t be less true.

At first glance, the most noticeable problems are the walls plagued with decay and the open wires that dangle from counter tops, but the real hazard is the insufferable heat encasing the box. 

“Two weeks ago, this space was 156 degrees. So that was just to give an example of what it can get up to. Later in the day, [as] the sun keeps cooking, the sound equipment can’t even maintain itself and work properly,” Assistant Principal Penelope Shelton said. 

“Athletics ended up paying a lot of money, over $10,000, to have the sound equipment upgraded. We spent $35,000 through donors for the new scoreboard and It still doesn’t work because of the constant heat that it’s under. And so we even have issues then with the microphone cutting out and things along those lines, too.” 

Since the broken AC units are of no service to those trapped inside the box for hours on end, staff members have relied on removing the window panes from the walls just to relieve themselves from the heat. In an attempt to bring temperatures down before football games, especially on hot days, staff members must go through an entire prepping process hours before the game and crowd arrives just to make the press box a tolerable work environment.

 “What we try to do is Mrs. [Meredith] Kane, our athletic director, and I will, way before a game, come in and get all the fans going. We take off every single window and really try to open everything up to get airflow moving since it’s the only way to cool it down. We get the side doors open in order to ventilate it out too,” Shelton said. 

The problem doesn’t stop with the season change. Due to the lack of insulation, winter sports are just as bad when it comes to unbearable temperatures. Usually score keeping is done by volunteers or parents, but during the winter season many people refrain from the job because of how cold it is. Those that do volunteer themselves find ways to manage such as lugging giant heaters up the ramp from the parking lot to the box every game while bundled in jackets and blankets.

The inability to regulate temperatures is only part of the problem. The overall decay, water rot and loose ceiling tiles are the results of long term neglect. Due to the failing structure of the ceiling, there poses a risk of falling objects making the box a hazardous work space, especially on Friday night football games.  

“The football coaches that go on the roof to get a better angle or to film sometimes drop stuff and they make loud noises. I’m worried that someone’s going to fall through the roof one of these days, and it will happen at some point if it doesn’t get fixed,” Mr. Alex Anderson said. Building Industry Technology Academy (BITA) instructor Mr. Bret Hunter has even offered to make repairs to the box, but the main source of most of the problems it has lies in the foundation of the press box and requires full renovation at the core of the structural design.

“Full renovation is definitely required to make it functional. The word I have from the district maintenance and operations department is that they had a contractor out here last spring, and they gave me the estimate of anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 depending on the extent that we want to fix it. The $50,000 was very low end, and that was just to insulate and fix the windows in the center section. $100,000 would be for all three sections,” Shelton said.

According to Shelton, staff members have reached out to the district in an attempt to get box renovations moving, although the problem is far from solved. The renovations would have to be supported by site funding, money allotted from the district or taken out of school funds. Unfortunately, the athletic department cannot conjure enough money for a full renovation without spending the money that supports the interests of the student body. In other words, spending on repairs is a sacrifice not worth the price of jeopardizing student education and programs on campus. 

“I think not addressing the issues is not only a safety hazard for those that are in there, but for other groups outside of Whitney high school who use the press box. Whether it’s a soccer club, W.J.W (Whitney Junior Wildcats) or some of these other ones, it’s just a poor reflection on our school as a whole. When people from our community come and use the box, it really sends a bad message on the things that we offer here,” Anderson said. 

With poor design from the beginning, the press box has only declined since its initial construction 21 years ago. Rotting wood, an unreliable ceiling, broken equipment and extreme temperatures are all reasons why the press box is becoming a nonfunctional workspace and if it is not acted on soon, commentating games in the stadium could become a thing of the past.

by ELIAS BARQUET, LILA COMBS, GAVIN RALEIGH & MADELYN REYES MORAN