Cameron Stadium is an outdoor

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

adjacent to the campus of

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...

Facilities and amenities

Located one mile from campus. It is the host of W&J's home football games, men's and women's soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey, and intramural activities. The main playing surface is Matrix turf, installed by Hellas Construction in 2009. The eight-lane, all-weather track was resurfaced in 2003. The stadium is home to the Towler Hall, located next to the field house, which is the home to the W&J Athletic Hall of Fame. Plaques featuring the names of each individual that has been inducted into the Hall of Fame hang on the wall. Towler Hall also has a large banquet room with capacity for 135–150 people. The adjacent Eaton/Gentile Room contains athletic memorability from the college's past. Athletic training rooms are located under the home

bleacher Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...

s. The training rooms are equipped with electric stimulation machines, ultrasound unit, a paraffin wax machine, and a large

whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

History

In 1885, the college purchased the old Washington Fairgrounds, an 8-acre field in the south side of town, for athletic purposes. In order to finance the purchase of the property the college erected an

oil well An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas may ...

on the grounds. Students exercised in a makeshift facility under the grandstand in the years before the

Old Gym The Old Gym is a historic building at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. It currently houses a modern exercise facility featuring cardiovascular, resistance, and strength-training equipment. The building also features a t ...

was constructed in 1893. In 1920, the field was renamed College Field. The college's 1968 campus master plan called for the construction of a new football stadium on Wade Avenue, which would have been within the

East Washington Historic District The East Washington Historic District is a historic district in East Washington, Pennsylvania that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is designated as a historic district by the Washington County History & Landmarks Fou ...

In 1990, the locker facilities received $500,000 worth of renovations and improvements. In 1999, the stadium was renovated and expanded through a $2.5 million donation from the Cameron family, best known as the owners of

Cameron Coca-Cola Cameron Coca-Cola Bottling Co. was a large Coca-Cola Bottling company in Washington, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1889 as Cameron Flavorings. In the early 1900s, the company began a relationship with Coca-Cola. The company had plants ...

. The renovations included the installation of a new FieldTurf playing surface, the construction of an eight-lane outdoor track, the construction of improved visitor

s, and the installation of a new scoreboard. The next year, the college completed phase two of the renovation in 2000 saw the construction of expanded locker rooms, a new women's locker room, luxury suites, two new concession stands, three new ticket booths, and additional seating for 1,000 spectators. A state-of-the-art press box was constructed, along with hardware necessary for television and radio broadcasts. That same year, the college completed the Washington & Jefferson Athletic Hall of Fame, contained in the Eaton/Gentile Hall of Fame Room at Towler Hall. In 2001, the stadium was renamed Cameron Stadium. Three years later, the locker room and training facilities located under the bleachers were renovated and the track was resurfaced and repainted. In 2008, the playing surface was replaced with RealGrass

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

, including multi-colored end zones and a new W&J College logo at the 50-yard line.

References

External links

Cameron Stadium
{{Washington, Pennsylvania Washington & Jefferson Presidents football Washington & Jefferson Presidents sports venues College football venues Sports venues in Pennsylvania American football venues in Pennsylvania Sports venues completed in 1885 Lacrosse venues in the United States Soccer venues in Pennsylvania College lacrosse venues in the United States College field hockey venues in the United States 1885 establishments in Pennsylvania