Tearing Down The Stage
Setting up the FarmAid concert in just twenty days was indeed an impressive accomplishment, but tearing down the stage and getting Memorial Stadium ready for football once again deserves just as much credit. On the morning of September 23, the day after the concert, two farmers from the Weldon area who volunteered to help with the cleanup trudged across the field through ankle deep trash and debris. They found sleeping bags, blankets, food and drink containers, and a seemingly insurmountable number of alcohol cans covering the field and stands.[1] On that Monday, volunteer groups shoveled trash off the tarp that covered the field, sound equipment and lighting systems were removed, and workers dismantled the stage. [2]
As the field was being cleared, engineer Greg Gustafson was able to peek under the synthetic Geotec tarp that protected the field and inspect the astroturf. Gustafson told the News-Gazette that the field had been protected from any visible damage, which was a major concern for University officials. While the tarp certainly made a difference, Gustafson attributed the condition of the field to the rain. He commented that the downpour may have made the concert uncomfortable for the crowd, but it also protected the field from cigarette burns. [3]
By Wednesday, September 25, the News-Gazette announced that the post FarmAid cleanup was coming to an end and the main stage had finally been taken down. This was crucial to the cleanup process because the tarp covering the field could not be taken off until the stage was dismantled. The astroturf was revealed in good condition and only had a few spots of dirt that were taken off with power washers borrowed from the Municipal Stadium in Cincinnati. During the latter stages of the cleanup process, University officials also looked into the vibrations of the upper balconies that audience members reported to have experienced during the concert, but assured the public that the stadium was built to withstand swaying. [4]
What is perhaps most noteworthy about the cleanup process after the FarmAid concert is the many different groups of people that it brought together. University staff, local volunteers like the Mahomet-Seymour High School Future Farmers of America, and even minimum security prisoners all worked together to clean up Memorial Stadium.[5] Governor Thompson assigned prisoners from the Urbana Community Correctional Center and other prisons from the Lincoln and Logan areas to help with the cleanup.[6] Prison laborers were used from start to finish and completed much of the dirty work that was pivotal to bringing the stadium back to life.[7]
An open football schedule for the fighting Illini was a major reason why Memorial Stadium was able to hold the concert in the first place. An away game on Saturday, September 21, and a week-long break in their schedule after FarmAid created a flexible time frame for the cleanup crew to work with.[8] Memorial Stadium made a quick recovery after FarmAid, but attention shifted to Illinois’s athletic struggles, prompting Terry Hackett to comment in the Daily Illini that perhaps the football team needed “OrangeAid.” [9] Illinois played their Big Ten season opener on October 6 against Ohio State University at Memorial Stadium and capped off a historic few weeks for the Champaign area with a last minute winning field goal to beat O.S.U. 31-28. [10]