ALTON, Ill. — A sinkhole swallowed bleachers, a light pole and 100 feet of soccer fields at Gordon Moore Park in Alton, Illinois, on Wednesday.
Surveillance video showed the moment the sinkhole opened up and an area where benched players would sit during games disappeared beneath the earth.
“I can’t imagine if there were a bunch of people out here," said Michael Haynes, the director of Alton’s Parks and Recreation Department. "We’re fortunate.”
Mayor David Goins said no one was hurt in the collapse at Gordon Moore Park, and that Alton Parks and Recreation Director Michael Haynes was at the scene to assess the damage.
“We’re waiting to hear back from the mine and see what the geologists and the engineers have to say about it," Haynes said. "We’ll follow their lead on where to go from here. They can determined what happened, why it happened, how to prevent it, and how we fix what has happened here.”
Haynes said the hole is approximately 100-feet wide and 30-feet deep. No one was using the field at the time of the collapse.
The sinkhole was reportedly the result of an underground mine owned by New Frontier Materials, a spokesperson for the mine told 5 On Your Side.
"The impacted area has been secured and will remain off limits for the foreseeable future while inspectors and experts examine the mine and conduct repairs," the New Frontier Materials representative said. "No one was injured in the incident, which has been reported to officials at the Mine Safety Health Administration in accordance with applicable regulations. Safety is our top priority. We will work with the city to remediate this issue as quickly and safely as possible to ensure minimal impact on the community."
At this time, Gordon Moore Park and Spencer T Olin Golf Course are temporarily closed to the public.
All day, people visiting the park couldn’t stop gasping and gazing at the video of the collapse.
“Oh, my goodness. That’s crazy! My three kids and I come here all the time. Strangely enough, my oldest wants to play soccer and that’s scary,” Seantea Vaughn said.
“Holy smokes, literally! I can’t believe that video of that thing. We came to the park today to play pickleball, but I guess not today,” Amanda Tannehill said.
By late Wednesday afternoon, all activities at the park were canceled due to the mine collapse. A park security officer blocked the main entrance and turned all park visitors away.
“It looks like something out of a movie, right? It looks like a bomb went off,” Haynes said.
“There are two soccer fields slashed football right next to each other and it happened kind of right between them, so half of each field sort of swallowed," Haynes said. "It’s shocking to see especially right in the middle of our fields here that we just spent a million and a half dollars on five years ago to complete the new turf, soccer and football fields and concession stand next to it. It’s a little disheartening. The park is closed for the evening and early morning. We are going back out there tomorrow as the investigation continues."
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