Vanderbilt Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Vanderbilt Stadium | |
|---|---|
| at Dudley Field | |
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| Location | Natchez Trace at Jess Neely Drive Nashville, TN |
| Opened | October 14, 1922 (rebuilt 1981) |
| Owner | Vanderbilt University Board of Trust |
| Operator | Vanderbilt University |
| Construction cost | $1.5 million |
| Former names | Dudley Field (1922–1981) |
| Tenants | Vanderbilt Commodores Football Tennessee Oilers (NFL) (1998) Music City Bowl (NCAA) (1998) |
| Capacity | 39,773[1] |
Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field is a football stadium located in Nashville, Tennessee. Completed in 1922 as the first stadium in the South to be used exclusively for college football, it is the home of the Vanderbilt University football team.[2] Vanderbilt Stadium hosted the Tennessee Oilers and the first Music City Bowl in 1998 and also hosted the Tennessee state high school football championships for many years.
[edit] History
The stadium was originally constructed as Dudley Field in 1922, seating 20,000. Over the years, capacity was raised to 34,000 with the addition of the south stands, completing the horseshoe, and north end zone bleacher stands. It was named for William Dudley, Dean of the Vanderbilt University Medical School from 1885 until his death in 1914. Dudley was responsible for the formation of the SIAA, the predecessor of the Southern Conference and Southeastern Conference, in 1895, and was also instrumental in the formation of the NCAA in 1906.[2]
The first game played at Dudley Field was between the home-standing Commodores and the powerful University of Michigan Wolverines. A late 4th quarter goal-line stand by the Commodores preserved a 0-0 tie.[2] The following Friday, nearby Hume-Fogg High School played a game at Dudley. Senior Jimmie Armistead returned the opening kick for a touchdown, providing the first touchdown ever recorded in the stadium. Armistead would go on to a successful career at Vanderbilt and was the captain and starting halfback for the 1927 team.
Most of the stadium was demolished in 1980–1981, with the remaining stands on each sideline raised ten feet through the use of 22 hydraulic jacks on each side of the stadium. The stadium's maximum capacity after the 1980–81 renovation was 41,448, consisting of a single-decked horseshoe grandstand filled in with wooden bleachers from the original 1960 expansion.
In 2004, Vanderbilt officials removed the unpopular wooden bleachers from the north end zone and replaced them with a visitors' concourse that affords any fan in the stadium a field-level, up-close experience with the playing surface. The metal frames for the bleachers were relocated to Mt. Juliet Christian School's football facility in suburban Nashville.
Future plans for the stadium call for its renovation, changing the flavor of the facility to the brick-and-iron style of nearby Hawkins Field, Vanderbilt's baseball stadium, along with construction of a football facility in place of the present concourse and JumboTron. On July 24, 2007, Vanderbilt officials announced they were in the preliminary stages of a stadium renovation plan, with financing, design concept, and date of completion still up in the air.[1]
The stadium served as Nashville's main outdoor stadium until the completion of what is now LP Field in 1999.
[edit] NFL use
Upon moving to Tennessee, the Oilers/Titans franchise initially played at the larger Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis while LP Field (then called Adelphia Coliseum) was under construction, with the intention of building up a statewide fan-base.
Dismal attendance during the 1997 season, due in part to the unwillingness of many Nashville fans to make the trip to Memphis, and Memphis fans unwilling to support the "Nashville" team after years of failing to secure their own NFL franchise, led the team to decide to play the 1998 season at the smaller Vanderbilt Stadium, even though Vanderbilt refused to allow the sale of alcohol at the NFL games.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Climer, David. "Vandy stadium might finally join the 21st century", The Tennessean, 2007-07-25. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ a b c Vanderbilt Stadium. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
| Preceded by Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
Home of the Tennessee Oilers 1998 |
Succeeded by Adelphia Coliseum |
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