Jump to content

Stadium Bowl

Coordinates: 47°16′01″N 122°26′56″W / 47.267°N 122.449°W / 47.267; -122.449
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Glacier109 (talk | contribs) at 19:33, 23 August 2022 (→List of Notable Events). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Stadium Bowl
August 2014
Map
Former namesTacoma Stadium
LocationTacoma, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates47°16′01″N 122°26′56″W / 47.267°N 122.449°W / 47.267; -122.449
OwnerTacoma Public Schools
Capacity15,000
SurfaceFieldTurf
Construction
OpenedJuly 10, 1910
114 years ago
ArchitectFrederick Heath
Tenants

Stadium High School
Tacoma is located in the United States
Tacoma
Tacoma
class=notpageimage|
Location in the United States
Tacoma is located in Washington (state)
Tacoma
Tacoma
class=notpageimage|
Location in Washington

The Stadium Bowl (originally Tacoma Stadium) is a 15,000-seat stadium in the northwest United States, located in Tacoma, Washington. The stadium is located next to Stadium High School with views of Commencement Bay and the Puget Sound. It was designed by Frederick Heath.[1] The stadium plays host to the American football teams for both Silas High School and Stadium High School. The Stadium originally opened 114 years ago in 1910, and the adjacent high school would change its name to reference the Bowl.

A panorama of the stadium and adjacent high school, with Commencement Bay in the background (2008)

History

The stadium, designed by Frederick Heath, dates from 1910 and is in a location once known as Old Woman's Gulch. It was originally much grander than it is today, with a seating capacity of 32,000 compared to today's capacity of 15,000.

The stadium is on an asymmetrical block bounded by North E Street (south); Tacoma High School and North 1st Street (east); North 3rd Street and North Stadium Way (originally Cliff Avenue) (west); and North Schuster Parkway, railroad tracks and Commencement Bay (north).

The stadium was originally built in 1909–1910 using steam shovels and sluicing to move more than 180,000 cubic yards (140,000 m3) down the edges of the gulch to create a flat playing field of 2.5 acres (10,000 m2). Wooden molds were built to cast concrete for 31 rows of stadium seating surrounding the playfield.[2][3]

The original structure exceeded what the soil could support. A restoration project in the 1970s had to sacrifice roughly half of the seating capacity because of instability. This was followed by a further restoration allowing the stadium to reopen in 1985.

Crowd gathering at Stadium Bowl for a speech made by President Theodore Roosevelt circa 1911

List of notable events

Stadium Bowl has hosted many memorable sporting events, concerts, and ceremonies including:

Appearances in Media

Stadium bowl and the connected high school are well known for its unique and captivating design. This has led the bowl to make appearances in film, and is often highly ranked in lists that showcase high schools with the best architecture.

Most notably, Stadium high school was used as a filming location in the 1999 cult classic film, 10 Things I Hate About You. Renamed "Padua High School" in the movie, many scenes were filmed at the school. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie involves Heath Ledger's character serenading Julia Stiles' character while she is at soccer practice in the Stadium Bowl. While singing Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", Ledger would run up and down the iconic stairs of the Bowl, making for one of the most memorable in the film.

Stadium Bowl was chosen in 2008 as one of the best high school football stadiums in the U.S. by ESPN.[11]

Stadium Bowl was listed on MaxPreps as one of "10 high school football stadiums to see before you die".[12]

Sports Illustrated also listed Stadium as one of the 13 must see high school football stadiums in the United States.[13]

Flooding Problems

Unfortunately, the stadium has dealt with numerous flooding incidents throughout its history that has put it out of commission and required repair.

In 1981 a burst storm drain washed away the scoreboard and the north end zone of the football field.[2]

On October 10, 2015 Stadium bowl experienced a mass flooding due to improper drain management. Videos of the bowl flooding quickly went viral. The videos of the bowl flooding were so captivating that they were even featured on CNN.[14]

Despite having multiple drains in the streets above the stadium, the drains became too overwhelmed with water, causing the flooding. The water eroded soil under the stadium's main stairwell, soaked the field-turf with water, mud, and debris, flooded the locker rooms used by home and away teams, and also caused a small trench to form on the Northern side of the stadium.[15]

The flooding would cause all subsequent sporting events at the stadium to be postponed, canceled, or relocated to nearby fields or schools.[15] Officials decided to keep the stadium closed until the spring of 2016, and football games would not return until the following September.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Stadium Bowl – StadiumDB.com". stadiumdb.com. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  2. ^ a b Plaque outside the stadium, May 28, 1993. Consulted 8 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b TacomaHistory (2017-10-03). "STADIUM". tacoma history. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  4. ^ Varnell, George M. (October 12, 1917). "Grid Curtain Goes Up in Northwest Saturday". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Retrieved February 16, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "Officers Held to Scoreless Tie". Spokesman Review. October 14, 1917. Retrieved February 16, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "Washington State and Texas A. and M. arrive in Tacoma for big game". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 6, 1941. p. 11.
  7. ^ "Washington State loses "Evergreen Bowl" to Texas A. and M." Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 7, 1941. p. 2, sports.
  8. ^ "Mud battle in the offing for Washington State, Penn State". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 27, 1948. p. 11.
  9. ^ Jacobs, William (November 28, 1948). "Penn State wins, 7-0, over Wash. State". Pittsburgh Press. p. 27.
  10. ^ Ashlock, Herb (November 29, 1948). "Sarboe & Co. safe; Penn State surprised". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 13.
  11. ^ "Best stadiums to watch a high school football game". ESPN.com. 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  12. ^ "10 high school football stadiums to see before you die - MaxPreps". MaxPreps.com. 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  13. ^ Kramer, Jesse. "13 incredible high school football stadiums". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  14. ^ Storm sends water rushing into school's football stadium - CNN Video, retrieved 2021-02-17
  15. ^ a b Lynn, Adam (October 12, 2015). "Flood damage knocks Tacoma's Stadium Bowl out of commission". The News Tribune.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Football returns to Stadium High after flood". king5.com. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
Washington (state)

This article about a sports venue in Washington state is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stadium_Bowl&oldid=1106235450"