The Salinas Sports Complex is a sporting complex located in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

on the Central Coast. The main feature of the complex is a 17,000-seat stadium for

California Rodeo Salinas Salinas, California, Salinas is a major stop on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. The Salinas rodeo (pronounced the Spanish way: "roDAYo") began in 1911 as a Wild West Show on the site of the old race track ground, now ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

was also played at the main stadium before the opening of Rabobank Stadium next door. The grounds have been home to the

since 1911. The original wood stadium structure was built in 1924 and replaced in 1996 with a stadium design by Kasavan Architects. The stadium's field is wide enough to host soccer matches along with football games, and indeed it hosted the

California Jaguars California Jaguars were an American soccer team that played in Salinas, California at the Salinas Sports Complex. They joined the USISL in 1995 as the Monterey Bay Jaguars, but changed the name a year later. They played in the A-League in 1997 a ...

of the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(then

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

) from 1995 to 1999. For several years, the

Professional Bull Riders The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. In the U.S., PBR events have been televised on CBS and CBS Sports Network since 2012. In 2013, the ...

(PBR) has hosted events from its "minor league" system, such as the Touring Pro Division (formerly the Challenger Tour) and BlueDEF Tour, at the complex. The complex is also home to

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

fields. The stadium not only hosts rodeo and sports events; it can be converted into a race track for

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pic ...

shows, and

motorcycle racing Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

. Concerts have been held at the venue, such as the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

in 2005,

RBD RBD is a Mexican Latin pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's telenovela ''Rebelde''. The group achieved international success from 2004 until their separation in 2009 and sold over 15 million records worldwide, making them one of ...

in 2006, the

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

in 2006,

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

in 2007,

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer, often referred to as ''El Sol de México'' (The Sun of Mexico), which is the nickname his mother gave him as a child—"mi sol". Luis Miguel has sung in mu ...

in 2007,

Creedence Clearwater Revisited Creedence Clearwater Revisited is an American rock band formed in 1995 by bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug "Cosmo" Clifford, former members of Creedence Clearwater Revival, to play live versions of that band's music. Overview Much of Creeden ...

in 2009,

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...

in 2012,

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

in 2015,

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

in 2017, and

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

in 2018.

Salinas Assembly Center

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 ...

, the Salinas Rodeo Grounds was one of the locations used as a temporary

detention camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

for citizens and immigrant residents of Japanese ancestry, before they were relocated to more permanent and remote facilities. One of seventeen such sites overseen by the Wartime Civilian Control Administration, the Salinas Assembly Center was built after President

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president *Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Roosevel ...

issued

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...

, authorizing the removal and confinement of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. The camp opened on April 27, 1942 and held a total of 3,608 people before closing two months later on July 4, 1942. Most came from the Monterey Bay area and were transferred to the Poston concentration camp, located on the

Colorado River Indian Reservation The Colorado River Indian Tribes (Mojave language 'Aha Havasuu, Navajo language: Tó Ntsʼósíkooh Bibąąhgi Bitsįʼ Yishtłizhii Bináhásdzo) is a federally recognized tribe consisting of the four distinct ethnic groups associated with the C ...

in Arizona. In 1980, the Salinas Assembly Center, along with eleven other former temporary detention sites, was designated

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

#934. A historical marker and memorial garden were dedicated on the 1984 Day of Remembrance. This location cannot be considered a National Historic Landmark due to its post-war use and land development. From July 1942 until 1945 the Center was used by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII R ...

as the Salinas Garrison.

References and Notes

External links

Salinas Sports Complex"Salinas (detention facility)"
''Densho Encyclopedia'' {{coord, 36.694183, -121.651784, type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Salinas, California American football venues in California High school football venues in California Baseball venues in California Rodeo venues in the United States Soccer venues in California Softball venues in California College softball venues in the United States Sports in Salinas, California Sports venues in Monterey County, California Music venues in California Internment camps for Japanese Americans Sports venues completed in 1911 1911 establishments in California Sports complexes in the United States

Salinas Assembly Center

See also

References and Notes

External links