Bethlehem Area School District Stadium, or BASD Stadium, is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

. It is one of Pennsylvania's largest high school stadiums, seating up to 14,000 and occupying up to 16,000 including the stadium's standing room section and is the home stadium for three large Bethlehem-based

Eastern Pennsylvania Conference The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (known informally as EPC, EPC18 and East Penn Conference) is an athletic conference consisting of 18 large high schools from Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Pike counties in the Lehigh Valley and Pocono M ...

public high schools, Liberty High School, Freedom High School, and

Bethlehem Catholic High School Bethlehem Catholic High School, more commonly referred to as Becahi or just Beca, is a parochial high school located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The school is within the Diocese of Allentown and is located at 2133 Madison Avenue in Bethlehem in ...

. The stadium, which was built in 1939 by

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

, has been described as "a local football mecca."

History

The BASD school board made multiple attempts between 1924 and 1930 to construct a stadium at Liberty High School; however, they were unsuccessful in doing so due to high estimated costs. In January 1938, the school board formed a committee to oversee to construction of the stadium after receiving partial funding from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. The steel for the stadium grandstands was donated by

, with the first beam being put in place in January 1939. The project was completed by May of the same year. The first game played in the new stadium was on September 23, but the stadium was not commemorated until November 4. In the 1970s, additional improvements were made to the stadium, including the installation of a track and lavatory facilities, as well as upgrades to the field-house. In 1993, new concession stands, ticket booths, and a scoreboard were added. The stadium was further renovated in 2005 when a new light system was installed and FieldTurf was added thanks in part to the generosity of Frank Banko. The field was renamed “Frank Banko Field at BASD Stadium” from 2005-2018. In 2016, the field turf and track were replaced. The scoreboard was replaced and the away-side grandstand was renovated before the start of the 2018 football season. The home-side grandstand was renovated in the summer of 2019.

References

External links

BASD Stadium at WorldStadiums.com
{{coord, 40.6297, -75.3734, region:US-PA_type:edu, display=title Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Sports venues in Pennsylvania Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Works Progress Administration in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Northampton County, Pennsylvania American football venues in Pennsylvania