Through These Gates: How a section collapse in 1993 saved Nebraska's Memorial Stadium

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Through These Gates: How a section collapse in 1993 saved Nebraska's Memorial Stadium

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule speaks during a news conference on Monday at Memorial Stadium.

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With a bundle of face masks in hand, Orlando Maldonado felt the warm morning sun on his face as he began the most unsettling walk in Memorial Stadium history.

Orlando Maldonado was the lone witness to Memorial Stadium's collapse.

NEBRASKA ATHLETICS

The freshman football equipment manager was early into his day just before 9 a.m. on May 17, 1993.

During the season he assisted coaches at practices while fixing helmets and shoulder pads on gamedays. Now his task was to move around some supplies on a sleepy Monday three weeks after Nebraska wrapped up spring ball in front of 25,000 people at the Red-White scrimmage.

The teenager from New Jersey was near midfield headed toward the southeast corner when the tunnel entrance in front of him quietly shook and collapsed like a dropped deck of cards.

“It just fell,” Maldonado said recently. “It was like out of the movies. You’re standing there like, ‘Did this really happen?’ I went into the locker room to tell people about it. They didn’t believe me until they came outside. It just happened so fast.”

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A look at the collapsed Memorial Stadium.

NEBRASKA ATHLETICS

Another 30 seconds and 50 yards and Maldonado would have been underneath Section 14. Nine rows of concrete and steel crashed down a dozen feet onto the turf and metal bleachers below. Had it happened during a sellout Saturday, NU officials later estimated, as many as 1,000 people could have been injured or killed.

“We were damned lucky,” then-athletic director Bill Byrne said soon after.

The incident — now a footnote from Nebraska’s most glorious decade — was a wake-up call to administrators that they had neglected the Old Gray Lady for far too long. It spawned regular inspections, updates and renovations that haven’t stopped since. It is a major reason why most of the Huskers’ historic home has been preserved and modified instead of torn down and rebuilt.

Now almost exactly 100 years to the day since the venue was officially dedicated — and 30 years since the collapse — a tiny crack in a concrete beam has become one of the most unlikely wins ever at One Stadium Drive.

THE FLAW

While coach Bob Devaney and Nebraska weathered a 6-4 campaign in 1967, another new imperfection was going unnoticed.

Section 14 was 3 years old then, part of a 13,500-seat addition that enclosed the south end of the stadium. The identical southeast and southwest corners were originally built to be removable by hoisting out their concrete beams with a crane. The areas were held up by two support pillars each, which stood in the middle of running lanes of the track that ringed the football field at the time.

Dismantling the sections allowed for meets and practice but quickly proved impractical. Problems began, officials indicated, when modifications in 1967 removed one support post beneath each side and allowed for the lone remaining ones to be moved during track season. This was made possible by adding “beam seats,” which are ledges of steel anchored into a concrete beam.

A sliver developed along a horizontal joint between beams. Without the proper steel reinforcement bars, a quarter century of freezing and thawing saw the crack grow and extend into the lower beam, to which the beam seat was anchored.

“We really avoided tragedy,” said John Ingram, Nebraska’s longtime associate athletic director for capital planning and construction, about the 1993 section collapse. “That’s where all the recruits and their parents used to sit was in those bleachers beneath that section.”

RICH JANDA, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD FILE PHOTO

Then on that spring morning in 1993: shear failure. Structurally, the material could no longer withstand the applied forces in the 30-by-50-foot section. A total of 439 seats — 189 in the section above in Rows 6 through 13, plus the bleachers below — were destroyed.

The area had been used by faculty and staff members on gamedays but was about to shift to students as part of a seating reorganization.

“We really avoided tragedy,” said John Ingram, Nebraska’s longtime associate athletic director for capital planning and construction. “That’s where all the recruits and their parents used to sit was in those bleachers beneath that section.”

The event created a job for Ingram — whose tenure ended last April — as Byrne hired the first dedicated facilities person to work directly for athletics. Ingram brought in an engineering team to produce an exhaustive analysis of the stadium and a plan to bring it back to health.

Blame was never officially placed on anyone between the original designer (HDR Engineering of Omaha), the original contractor (Peter Kiewit Sons’ Co.) or the university.

But the study revealed an expert hadn’t examined the stadium in 12 years. And while it remained structurally sound, there was no guarantee of how long that would last.

“The engineers told us that as long as we maintain it that we can be in it,” Byrne said in July 1994. “But we have to maintain it. And we have not been doing that in the past.”

THE FIX

“We may not have had the resources to do some of the things we needed to do,” then-athletic director Bill Byrne said. “But our facilities are getting older. It's like fixing your house. The old saying is you can pay me now or pay me later. Well, it’s later for us.”

RICH JANDA, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD FILE PHOTO

Other areas of need were identified quickly. And there were lots of them.

Inspections in the weeks after the collapse revealed roughly 30 other areas or cracks that needed reinforcing. Up to 24 of those were in the newer north and south areas along with six on riser beams on the east and west sides. Some fixes required new steel beams for support. Other problems needed steel rods inserted within the concrete itself.

Of particular note was a flaw found in the southwest corner similar to the one that had doomed its southeast counterpart.

Work forced Nebraska’s preseason ninth-ranked football team to move its weight-training operation into the north stadium fieldhouse as consultants tested the stadium’s structural stability.

“It set us back a little bit,” NU strength and conditioning coach Boyd Epley said at the time. “We weren’t able to take a lot of the equipment that’s bolted down. The equipment we had was similar to what we’d take to a bowl game.”

A sellout crowd of 75,614 still packed in for the Huskers’ opener against North Texas on Sept. 4. The stadium shook in the first quarter when quarterback Brook Berringer found split end Corey Dixon for a deep 33-yard touchdown pass.

Among the fans sitting in the field-level steel bleachers that day was Norm Anderson of Omaha, who told the Omaha World-Herald that he glanced up as the structure above him rumbled.

“But I decided after it happened I wasn't going to worry about it,” Anderson said. “I care a whole lot more about what’s happening in the game than what is happening above me. I’m no Chicken Little.”

All told, the price tag on Section 14 repairs and subsequent inspections was $710,000. But that bill was just the first of many. An extensive waterproofing effort inside Memorial Stadium later cost $4 million. Other maintenance issues at the Devaney Sports Center and baseball’s Buck Beltzer Stadium also became bigger priorities.

A year after the collapse, Byrne said Nebraska would need to spend about $8 million during the next five years for basic building maintenance, starting with a crumbling retaining wall that alone would cost $1.2 million to address.

“We may not have had the resources to do some of the things we needed to do,” Byrne said. “But our facilities are getting older. It's like fixing your house. The old saying is you can pay me now or pay me later. Well, it’s later for us.”

Meanwhile, another question arose for the first time in generations: Was it time for Nebraska to build a new football home?

THE FUTURE

“I remember guys started painting the stairs red soon after the collapse and it was an upgrade,” Orlando Maldonado said. “To see it now, it’s just unreal.”

CHRIS MACHIAN, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

As Nebraska continued to build on what would become a school-record 47-game home winning streak on the field, the Huskers’ surroundings began to match those higher standards.

A new stadium would require raising a projected $160 million — about $2,130 per seat — an undertaking the Athletic Department was determined to avoid after battling back from a $2.4 million athletic fund deficit a few years earlier.

But the collapse, like a good halftime speech, had inspired NU officials.

Building maintenance became renovation. The university began the design phase for constructing 43 skyboxes in West Stadium that would open in 1999 along with a new press box, redone concourses and FieldTurf that would make Nebraska the first Division I program to use the synthetic playing surface. New instant-replay videoboards also put Nebraska ahead of its peers.

A two-year, $36 million stadium improvement project launched in 1997 included installing stadium lights on the east side, tripling the number of available restrooms and doubling the number of concession stands in East Stadium alone. The 600-stall parking garage just west of the stadium opened the same year.

Other projects — from the North Stadium expansion in 2006 to the East Stadium expansion in 2013 to the South Stadium reboot set to begin January 2025 — have continued since.

A host of historical details and oddities remain preserved within the evolving venue. Had the 1993 collapse not happened, Nebraska’s home may have instead gone the way of Purdue’s Ross-Ade Stadium. That building — constructed within a year of its counterpart in Lincoln — saw its period of neglect endure into the 21st century. A total teardown of Ross-Ade’s west side was the only feasible option for a project that cost $70 million in 2001.

“It was almost too late for Nebraska,” Ingram said. “It would have been to that point in a couple years.”

Maldonado — the lone witness to a major pivot point in Nebraska football history — said he hasn’t been to a Husker game in 25 years. A longtime construction representative now living in South Dakota, he toured the stadium a couple of years ago and watches every fall Saturday on television.

The home of Big Red looks both the same and different. Definitely better.

“I remember guys started painting the stairs red soon after the collapse and it was an upgrade,” Maldonado said. “To see it now, it’s just unreal.”

Photos: Nebraska football takes on Illinois, Oct. 6

Nebraska's Javin Wright (33) flies through the air after Illinois' TeRah Edwards (23) is tackled in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule walks the sideline in the fourth quarter of the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Anthony Grant (23) is brought down by the Illinois' Nicario Harper (0), Tahveon Nicholson, and Miles Scott (10) during the first quarter on Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA Journal Star

Nebraska's Marcus Washington (13) is helped off the field during the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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The Nebraska defense holds Illinois short of a touchdown in the first quarter on Oct. 6, 2023, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Nebraska's Quinton Newsome (6) is tackled by Illinois' Griffin Moore (81) and Josh Kreutz (64) while returning an interception in the fourth quarter on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star

Illinois' Nicario Harper (0) brings down Nebraska's Anthony Grant (23) with in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Anthony Grant (center) holds off Illinois' Nicario Harper (left) to make room for Nebraska's Heinrich Haarberg in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star

Illinois' Miles Scott (left) tackles Nebraska's Anthony Grant on a run in the second quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska kicker Tristan Alvano (30) celebrates after making a field goal against Illinois last year in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Nebraska's Brian Buschini holds the ball as kicker Tristan Alvano attempts a field goal in the first quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Alex Bullock (top) flies over teammate Heinrich Haarberg after he made a touchdown in the second quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star

Nebraska kicker Tristan Alvano sends the ball downfield during kickoff in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Malcolm Hartzog (13) celebrates after a play with teammate Omar Brown (12) in the first quarter of the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Thomas Fidone II (left) is upended by Illinois' Nicario Harper in the first quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Phalen Sanford (37) and Chief Borders (14) celebrate with Grant Tagge (56) after he came up with the ball following a fumble on a kickoff to Illinois during the second quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska quarterback Heinrich Haarberg (10) is angled out of bounds by Illinois' Xavier Scott (14) just short of a touchdown in the fourth quarter on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Nebraska's Isaac Gifford (bottom) and Ty Robinson (left) take down Illinois' Isaiah Williams last October in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule checks the play charts during the Illinois game on Oct. 6 in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Nebraska's Tommi Hill (left) is pushed out of bounds by Illinois' Reggie Love III (23) after Hill made an interception in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule motions to the team during a timeout at the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Illinois' Dylan Rosiek (left) and Keith Randolph Jr. (right) tackle Nebraska's Anthony Grant in the third quarter on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Nebraska punter Brian Buschini kicks the ball down field in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule walks the sideline during the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Chief Borders celebrates a tackle against Illinois on Oct. 6, 2023, in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Illinois' Casey Washington (right) makes a catch next to Nebraska's Quinton Newsome (6) in the second quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Illinois fans cheer as their team is introduced ahead of the Nebraska game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska fans celebrate with Ethan Nation (28) after the game against Illinois on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Blaise Gunnerson (97) and John Bullock (5) attempt to block a pass from Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer (9) in the fourth quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Nick Henrich (3) holds on to Illinois' Kaden Feagin to stop the Illini on a fourth-down play on Oct. 6 in Champaign, Ill. Henrich announced Wednesday he's retiring from football.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Nebraska's Anthony Grant (23) carries the ball before being tackled by Illinois' Dylan Rosiek (bottom) in the fourth quarter on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Illinois' Ashton Hollins (6) is tripped up by Nebraska's Tommi Hill (31), who is backed up by Isaac Gifford (2) and John Bullock (5) during the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Anthony Grant attempts to avoid a tackle by Illinois' Dylan Rosiek in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Illinois' Kaden Feagin (center) is held at bay by Nebraska defenders in the first quarter on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule reacts after a player is called for a penalty in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule reacts after a player is called for a penalty in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule (right) smiles after a call against the Huskers in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Illinois' Keith Randolph Jr. (left) and Nicario Harper (right) chase after Nebraska's Heinrich Haarberg in the first quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule talks with an official in the fourth quarter of the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule reacts after a player is called for a penalty in the fourth quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule reacts after a player is called for a penalty against Illinois in the fourth quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska fans celebrate after a stop in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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A pass intended for Nebraska's Alex Bullock (left) is intercepted by Illinois' Xavier Scott (14), who is backed up by Tahveon Nicholson (3) in the fourth quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska quarterback Heinrich Haarberg looks to make a pass in the third quarter on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Illinois' Nicario Harper (0) brings down Nebraska's Anthony Grant (23) in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Heinrich Haarberg runs with the ball against Illinois' Xavier Scott in the third quarter Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Emmett Johnson carries the ball as he is tackled by Illinois' Nicario Harper (0) in the fourth quarter on Oct. 6 in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Isaac Gifford (2) is "one of the best players in the country," defensive backs coach Evan Cooper said this spring.

KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star file photo

Illinois' Isaiah Williams (1) avoids a tackle by Nebraska's Phalen Sanford (37)during the first quarter on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska players walk out of the visitors' tunnel before taking on Illinois on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Tommi Hill (left) signals that the ball is short after the defense made a stop against Illinois in the first quarter on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Illinois' Luke Altmyer (left) throws a pass while being pressured by Nebraska's Ty Robinson (right) and Elijah Jeudy (left) on Oct. 6 in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Quinton Newsome (from left), Kwinten Ives and Demitrius Bell celebrate as the game against Illinois draws to a close on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Tamon Lynum (center) dances on the benches as he and the Huskers celebrate as the final moments of the game against Illinois on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Players practice on the field as the sun sets behind Memorial Stadium on Friday, Oct. 6, in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule reacts to a call in the first quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Marcus Washington is helped off the field on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. Coach Matt Rhule revealed Monday that Washington suffered a torn ACL, a season-ending injury.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule reacts after a penalty is called against Nebraska during the first quarter of the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule reacts after a penalty is called against NU during the first quarter of the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Billy Kemp IV (center) is pushed out of bounds just short of the goal line by Illinois' Zachary Tobe (left) and Miles Scott (bottom right) in the first half on Oct. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Illinois' Pat Bryant (left) reels in a one-hand catch as he is defended by Nebraska's Quinton Newsome last year in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Jimari Butler celebrates a stop against Illinois as he comes off the field in the second quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Illinois' Luke Altmyer is tackled by Nebraska's Jimari Butler in the second quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Heinrich Haarberg (right) celebrates with his second quarter touchdown with his teammates during the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Phalen Sanford (37) and Chief Borders (14) celebrate with Grant Tagge (56) after he comes up with the ball following a fumble on a kickoff to Illinois during the second quarter on Friday in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Heinrich Haarberg has a pass batted away by Illinois' Dylan Rosiek (28) on Oct. 6 in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Heinrich Haarberg outruns a tackle by Illinois' Nicario Harper during the second quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Alex Bullock maintains control of the ball using his legs as he is tackled by Illinois' Zachary Tobe in the first quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Malcolm Hartzog (13) and John Bullock (5) celebrate during the game against Illinois on Oct. 6 in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska quarterback Heinrich Haarberg runs to score a second quarter touchdown against Illinois on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska mascot Herbie Husker makes high-fives with fans before the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska fans Wyatt and John Taylor, from Livingston, Ill., originally from Columbus, wear the red and white face paint before the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska quarterbacks warmup on the field before the Illinois game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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From left, Freya Sparks-Morrison, 3, from Virginia, snack on popcorn with sisters Skyler, 4, and Scout Scott ,6, from Bloomington, Ill., ahead of the game on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska players practice on the field as the sun sets behind Memorial Stadium before the Illinois game on Friday in Champaign, Ill.

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Players practice on the field as the sun sets behind Memorial Stadium before the Nebraska's away game at Illinois on Friday in Champaign, Ill.

KENNETH FERRIERA Journal Star

Players practice on the field as the sun sets behind Memorial Stadium before the Nebraska's away game at Illinois on Friday in Champaign, Ill.

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The scoreboard is seen before Nebraska takes on Illinois on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Evan Jehe (bottom left), hands off a helmet to Raelynn Juergen, as they ready themselves for a family photo in front of a statue of recently deceased football legend Dick Butkus on Friday, Oct. 6, outside of Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Brooks Jehle is held by his father Evan, who is joined by Raelynn Juergen, as they pose for a family photo in front of a statue of recently deceased football legend Dick Butkus on Friday, Oct. 6, outside of Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska fans Drake and Josie Schopen, (center from left), from Aurora, IL, wait to enter the stadium on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Asher Audy, 8, from Sherwood, IL, runs through a blowup Illinois helmet during a tailgate on Friday, Oct. 6, outside of Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Asher Audy, 8, from Sherwood, IL, runs through a blowup Illinois helmet during a tailgate on Friday, Oct. 6, outside of Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska's Quinton Newsome disembarks the bus ahead of the Huskers game against Illinois on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule walks into the stadium ahead of the Huskers game against Illinois on Friday, Oct. 6, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska players walk into Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., on Friday, Oct. 6.

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Illinois' Nicario Harper (0) brings down Nebraska's Anthony Grant (23) with in the third quarter on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska fans celebrate with Ethan Nation (28) after the game against Illinois on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Nebraska players walk out of the visitors' tunnel before taking on Illinois on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

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Two photos

A look at the collapsed Memorial Stadium.

Orlando Maldonado was the lone witness to Memorial Stadium's collapse.

“We may not have had the resources to do some of the things we needed to do,” then-athletic director Bill Byrne said. “But our facilities are getting older. It's like fixing your house. The old saying is you can pay me now or pay me later. Well, it’s later for us.”

“We really avoided tragedy,” said John Ingram, Nebraska’s longtime associate athletic director for capital planning and construction, about the 1993 section collapse. “That’s where all the recruits and their parents used to sit was in those bleachers beneath that section.”

“I remember guys started painting the stairs red soon after the collapse and it was an upgrade,” Orlando Maldonado said. “To see it now, it’s just unreal.”