Sinkhole swallows up a piece of football field in Illinois park

An Illinois football field located above a mine has been closed after a giant sinkhole swallowed the ground and left a gaping 100-foot-wide crater in the middle of a community park.

Surveillance footage captured the 30-metre-wide sinkhole opening up in the ground and beginning to swallow the artificial turf field and one of the football field’s floodlights before disappearing completely into the ground.

A giant plume of dust and debris was shot into the air above the football field, leaving a giant hole in the center of the field.

Alton Parks and Recreation Director Michael Haynes shared Alton Telegraph Wednesday that the park would be closed indefinitely “out of an abundance of caution.”

Haynes added that no one was injured in the collapse and no miners were injured.

Alton Mayor David Goins added, “There was no one on the field at the time and no one was hurt, and that’s the most important thing.”

The park will remain closed until engineers determine it is safe.

“We’re waiting to hear back from the mine and see what the geologists and engineers have to say about it,” Haynes said. KSDK. “We will follow their lead on where to go. They can determine what happened, why it happened, how it can be prevented and how we can fix what happened here.”

The sinkhole appeared Wednesday morning at Gordon Moore Park in Alton, Illinois, engulfing a section of artificial turf football field above a limestone mine for Bluff City Minerals.

The resulting hole is at least 100 feet wide and about 50 to 30 feet deep, Haynes said, adding that it looks like “something out of a movie.”

The area collapsed just above the 12 to 15 meter thick ceiling of the mine. Bluff City Minerals’ quarry has been operated underground for years and is located next to the west side of the park, the Alton Telegraph reported.

A spokesperson for New Frontier Materials, speaking on behalf of Bluff City Minerals, confirmed to the local newspaper that their underground mine in Alton had experienced a “surface subsidence” that “opened a sinkhole in Gordon Moore City Park.”

“The affected area has been secured and will remain off-limits for the foreseeable future while inspectors and experts conduct mine investigations and repairs,” the spokesperson said. “No one was injured in the incident, which was reported to mine officials. Safety Health Administration (MSHA) in accordance with applicable regulations.”

“Safety is our top priority. We will work with the city to resolve this issue as quickly and safely as possible to ensure minimal impact on the community,” she added.

Haynes told KSDK that the collapse occurred between two of their soccer fields, swallowing half of each field, which were part of a recreation area they had just spent $1.5 million to complete their new turf, soccer fields, five years ago. and soccer fields and concession stands.

“It’s a little disheartening,” Haynes added.

Alton Parks and Recreation wrote on social media that all programs, sports and events scheduled to take place at Gordon Moore Park have been canceled Wednesday and Thursday as the sinkhole investigation continues.