Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium is an American football

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 ...

in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. It serves as the home field for the

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

Chippewas. The stadium opened in 1972 and holds 30,255 spectators, making it the largest on-campus stadium in the Mid-American Conference. It is located on the southeast part of campus, along with most of the other athletic facilities. The playing surface is named Kramer/Deromedi Field after former coaches Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi.

History

The stadium was originally named Perry Shorts Stadium in honor of R. Perry Shorts, a Saginaw banker who was a 1900 graduate and a generous donor. The stadium, which originally seated approximately 20,000 spectators, was dedicated on November 4, 1972, when the Chippewas defeated Illinois State University, 28–21, before a Homecoming crowd of nearly 17,000. In June 1983, the CMU Board of Trustees voted to rename the facility Kelly/Shorts Stadium in honor of Kenneth "Bill" Kelly, who coached the Chippewa football team to a 91–58–2 record from 1951 to 1966.

Renovations

A $28 million expansion project following the 1997 season added 10,000 seats to the stadium, increasing its capacity to 30,199. A two-tiered press box, locker room, and nine guest suites also were included in the expansion project. The original artificial turf, the first to be used in the state of Michigan, has been replaced three times, most recently in 2016 when it was changed from

Astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...

to FieldTurf. Permanent lights were installed before the 2006 season, making it the last stadium in the Mid-American Conference to do so.

Features

CMU's locker room, training room and equipment room are located in the stadium's north end zone, and the locker room is connected to the Indoor Athletic Complex (IAC) via a tunnel. The IAC houses the Dick Enberg Academic Center, coaches' offices, weight room, meeting rooms, CMU's Hall of Champions and indoor practice field with a wall-to-wall FieldTurf surface.

Events

The stadium has also been used as a site for other events, including high school football playoff games, concerts, and graduation ceremonies.

References

External links