Memorial Stadium (Champaign)

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Memorial Stadium is a football stadium located in Champaign, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The stadium is dedicated as a memorial to the Illinois men and women who died in World War I. The primary use of the stadium is to host the University's football intercollegiate athletics team.

Construction

Memorial Stadium was completed in 1923 at a cost of US$ 1.7 million. The original construction was financed with donations from University students, alumni, and others. At the time, the stadium consisted of double-decked stands on the east and west sidelines. The single-decked horseshoe around the south end zone was later completed, and temporary bleachers stand in the north end zone.

Dedication

The stadium is dedicated to the men and women of the state of Illinois that gave their lives serving in World War I. The east and west sides of the stadium have 200 columns that display the names of these men and women.

The stadium was officially dedicated on October 18, 1924, on which the University football team played a homecoming game against the University of Michigan. That day, Red Grange scored six touchdowns in one of the greatest single-game performances in football history.

Tributes

• The football playing surface within the stadium is named Zuppke Field, in honor of Robert Zuppke, the University of Illinois head football coach from 1913 to 1941.
• The north end of Zuppke Field hosts The Grange Rock, a tribute to Red Grange. The tribute was dedicated on October 22, 1994, with Mrs. Margaret Grange, Red Grange's wife, in attendance. The rock came from the same Indiana quarry that produced the stadium's columns.
• The Ray Eliot Varsity Room is named for Ray Eliot, the University of Illinois head football coach from 1942 to 1959.

Capacity

The seating capacity of the stadium's permanent seating, including the north end zone bleachers, is 69,249. The east and west grandstands each hold approximately 18,000 patrons on the first level plus 10,000 in each balcony. The south end zone "horseshoe" holds nearly 12,000, while the north bleachers add 1,500 more seats.

The stadium's highest single event attendance was 78,297, for a football game against the University of Missouri in 1984.

Past Renovations

• A press box was built at the top of the west balcony in 1967.
• As part of the 1974 Golden Anniversary campaign, artificial turf was installed on the field, along with a new lighting system.
• A $7 million renovation began in April of 1985. New AstroTurf was installed, along with new football headquarters in the northeast corner of the stadium.
• From November 1991 to August 1992, an $18 million renovation project replaced all concrete bleachers in both the east and west upper decks, along with the top 25 rows of the main stands. New restrooms were built, and the stadiums electrical and drainage systems were upgraded to meet new building codes.
• A color scoreboard was added to the north end of the stadium for the 1994 season.
• The stadium’s AstroTurf was replaced with AstroPlay in 2001.

Current Renovation Project

A massive renovation project was unveiled for Memorial Stadium in the fall of 2005. [link] The “Illinois Renaissance” project will begin after the completion of the 2006 football season, and is scheduled to be complete for the 2008 season. The field will be lowered in order to provide better sightlines for fans sitting close to the field. The concourse areas on all four sides of the stadium will be improved with better concession and restroom facilities. Additionally, the concourse areas will be connected all the way around the stadium for easier passage between the east and west stands. A permanent, 7,000-seat structure will be built on the north end of the stadium, and the current scoreboard and video replay screen will be raised above the new stands. The south horseshoe will be filled in down to field level, and will completely connect the east and west stands. The horseshoe improvements will increase seating to 14,000 seats behind the south end zone. The capacity of the west stands will be significantly reduced in order to build a large press box and luxury suite area at the top of the balcony. The new boxes will be three levels tall and will extend the entire length of the field. The new capacity of the stadium after the renovation will be 65,143. This $100 million project will be largely paid for by sales of the stadium’s new suites and luxury seating in the west stands.

Other uses

• It is the site of the field show of the annual Illini Marching Band Festival, usually the largest high school marching band competition in Illinois.
• In 2002, the stadium also hosted the NFL's Chicago Bears while Soldier Field was being renovated.
• During the winter months, an inflatable practice dome known as "the bubble" used to be inflated over the field, to allow for semi-indoor practice facilities. This usage stopped in 2001, when the Irwin Indoor Football Practice Facility was built to the northeast of the Stadium.
• On September 22, 1985 it hosted the first ever Farm Aid.

External links

• [Memorial Stadium page at the University of Illinois Athletics site]
• [Maps and aerial photos] Coordinates: [40.099295° -88.235941°]
• * Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
• * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
• * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
• * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Microsoft Virtual Earth]

 

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