Memorial Stadium (Indiana University)
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Memorial Stadium is a
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
Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...
. It is primarily used for
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 ...
, and has been the home of
Indiana Hoosiers football The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers have played their home games at Memorial Stadium since 1960 ...
since its opening in 1960. It is the tenth largest stadium in the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
, with a capacity of 52,626. The field has a conventional north-south alignment, at an approximate
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
.


History

The stadium officially opened in 1960 as part of a new athletics area at the university and replaced the original Memorial Stadium built in 1925 (a 20,000-seat stadium located on 10th Street in Indiana University's Arboretum). The current Memorial Stadium has been renovated or updated multiple times since the original construction. Improvements include the replacement of the original wooden seats with aluminum bleachers, installation of sound and lighting systems, and major structural overhauls. On June 1, 2003, a $3.5 million renovation of the Memorial Stadium press box was completed, which also added 300 indoor club seats and 9 suites. In the summer of 2003, the Hoosier locker room in Memorial Stadium underwent a $250,000 renovation. The facelift to the original 1986 facility included renovating and modernizing the existing space with new carpeting, lighting, and a new bulkhead ceiling along with the installation of custom-built oak wood lockers for 105 football players. The renovation was funded in large part by former Hoosier quarterback
Trent Green Trent Jason Green (born July 9, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for fifteen seasons. He played college football for Indiana University. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in ...
his wife Julie and philanthropist Ted Derheimer. In 2019, the $8.5 million Terry Tallen Indiana Football Complex opened, after J.C. Ripberger Construction Corp was able to finish the project in only 6 months, including an expanded and renovated locker room area, training room and sports lounge, to allow players to get acquainted with video games on 98" televisions. A 36 x HD scoreboard from
Daktronics Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. Founded in 1968 by ...
was added to the South End Zone for the 2010 season (which is the 29th largest collegiate scoreboard in the country), along with a state-of-the-art sound system.


Features


Playing surface

The field at the stadium was originally natural grass, but this was replaced in 1970 with artificial turf, which was updated to
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 ...
in 1986. The AstroTurf was replaced with grass in 1998, but the field soon reverted to an artificial surface ( AstroPlay) in 2003. Heavy rains in June 2008 severely damaged the field, washing away the gravel substrate, and creating a large sinkhole in the south end zone, which led to the installation of a FieldTurf surface. A new FieldTurf Revolution 360 playing surface was installed prior to the 2016 season.


"Hep's Rock"

In 2005, head football coach
Terry Hoeppner Terry Lee Hoeppner (August 19, 1947 – June 19, 2007) was an American college football coach who served as head coach of the Miami RedHawks from 1999 to 2004 and the Indiana Hoosiers from 2005 to 2006. Shortly after announcing that he would be ...
had a southern Indiana
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
boulder, nicknamed "The Rock", installed in the north end zone as a new campus tradition. This limestone boulder was found prior to Hoeppner's first season at IU in the practice field. It was removed, put on a granite slab and moved to the stadium. The Hoosiers and coach Hoeppner walked out and touched the Rock before running onto the field at every home game during Hoeppner's time as head coach (a tradition that continues today). Terry Hoeppner died of brain cancer on June 19, 2007, and The Rock (renamed "Hep's Rock" during a ceremony with the Hoeppner family on November 6, 2010) now serves as motivation for the team as well as a tribute to Hoeppner's influence on the football program.


USS Indiana (BB-58) Prow, mast and guns

The prow, mainmast, and two guns of the
USS Indiana (BB-58) USS ''Indiana'' (BB-58) was the second of four fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1930s. The first American battleships designed after the Washington treaty system began to break down in the mid-1930s, they took advanta ...
are erected at the western entrance of the stadium. The battleship saw extensive service in the
Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, taking part in the invasion of the
Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
,
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
, Marianas campaign, and the
Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...
and earning nine battle stars.


North End Zone Student-Athlete Development Center

In September 2006, Indiana University announced plans to expand Memorial Stadium and enclose the north end zone. Demolition of the North End Zone bleachers took place in January 2007. This left capacity for the 2007 and 2008 seasons at 49,225. The expansion provides additional space for classrooms, a weight/training room, a Hall of Fame, and expanded seating for football, raising the stadium's
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
to 52,692. The expansion is part of an overall $55 million expansion of several Indiana University athletic facilities. The project was completed as scheduled in August 2009, and was ready for the Hoosiers when they opened against
Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...
on September 3, 2009. Indiana Athletic Director Fred Glass announced in July 2009 $3 million of additional renovations to the stadium for the 2009 season, including a new "retro" North End Zone scoreboard, a "Knothole Park" kids area in the south end zone, upgrades to the press box, repainting walkways, renovated concession stands, additional ticket booths, and new fencing around the stadium.


South End Zone Student-Athlete Excellence Center

Indiana University Athletic Director Fred Glass said on October 9, 2014 that a project to enclose the south end of Memorial Stadium is being planned at an estimated cost of $10 million. The project will include: a new rehabilitation and treatment facility for athletes, additional academic and life skills support facilities, a "multi-use" outdoor terrace on the roof of the structure, an entry plaza and green space at the south end of the stadium. The project was confirmed in March 2016, and is expected to be completed for the 2018 season. The total cost is $53 million. A new video board was installed in the North End Zone for the 2017 season, with a video board installed prior to the 2018 season, in the completed south end zone.


Gallery

File:USS Indiana - Memorial Stadium.jpg, USS Indiana - Memorial Stadium File:South Endzone - July 8, 2017.jpg, South End Zone - July 8, 2017 File:Memorial Stadium - Construction - 081417.jpg, South End Zone - August 14, 2017 File:Memorial Stadium - Construction - September 23, 2017.jpg, Memorial Stadium - Construction - September 23, 2017 File:Memorial Stadium - South End Zone - Complete.jpg, Memorial Stadium - South End Zone - June 2018


Attendance


See also

*
List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums This is a list of stadiums that currently serve as the home venue for Football Bowl Subdivision college football teams. These include most of the largest stadiums in the United States. Conference affiliations reflect those in the current 2022 ...


References


External links

*
World Stadiums.com
- photos - Memorial Stadium {{Drum Corps International World Championship host venues College football venues Indiana Hoosiers football American football venues in Indiana 1960 establishments in Indiana