Memorial Stadium – Home of the Indiana University (IU) Hoosiers college football team

Memorial Stadium is a long-heralded landmark in Bloomington, Indiana because it has been the home of the Indiana University (IU) Hoosiers college football team for decades. Fans of the Big Ten Conference football program located in Hoosier State have affectionately nicknamed the sports venue “The Rock” and “The House”.

Although construction on this architectural masterpiece first broke ground on August 27, 1958, the stadium did not open until the middle of the 1960 football season, when on October 8, 1960 the Indiana Hoosiers football team entered onto the field in their beautiful new stadium for the first time. . The current capacity at the beloved soccer stadium is an impressive 52,692 which easily exceeds the entire student population which currently exceeds 42,000 when including both undergraduates (32,490) and graduates (8,942). Memorial Stadium has been designed to house not only current students, but also the loyal alumni and general fans who travel from miles away to watch the Hoosiers take on Big Ten Conference opponents.

Prior to the construction and eventual opening of the current Memorial Stadium, the architecture team at Eggers & Higgins wanted to honor the original or “old” Memorial Stadium while designing something beautifully unique and practical. New York City-based architecture firm Eggers & Higgins was inspired by his other successful projects which included many other contributions to college campuses. The stadium the architectural team replaced was a 20,000 seat observation structure that was built in 1925. The old stadium was in desperate need of a replacement and the firm of Eggers & Higgins proved to be the ideal team for the job.

Since opening day on October 8, 1960, numerous improvements have been made to the stadium. The first big change happened in 1970 when the relatively new and revolutionary idea of ​​artificial turf was first introduced in Bloomington, Indiana. Another noteworthy change is the upgrade from the wood seats that were originally installed to aluminum seats that are more resistant to both the elements and normal wear and tear. Yet another improvement occurred when administrators provided for the eventual installation of sophisticated lighting and sound systems to enhance the fan experience. Interestingly, artificial turf was installed in 1970 and then AstroTurf in 1986. Soon after, the new AstroTurf was replaced with natural grass in 1998 and then in 2003, as part of a $3.5 million renovation, the last synthetic turf was installed. to replace natural grass. instead just five years earlier.

College football fans who have never seen an IU game at Memorial Stadium should really make sure to catch one ASAP. Fans of the Big Ten Conference and of the country in general praise Hoosier fans for their sportsmanship and friendly enthusiasm.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *