Schoellkopf Field is a 21,500-capacity

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 ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

campus that opened in 1915 and is used for the

Cornell Big Red football The Cornell Big Red football team represents Cornell University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) college football competition as a member of the Ivy League. It is one of the ol ...

sprint football Sprint football, formerly called lightweight football, is a varsity sport played by United States colleges and universities, under standard American football rules. As of the 2022 season, the sport is governed by the Collegiate Sprint Football ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

teams. It is located just north of

Cascadilla Creek Cascadilla Creek is a river located in Tompkins County, New York. It flows into Cayuga Inlet by Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithac ...

on the southern end of the campus, next to Hoy Field and

Lynah Rink Lynah Rink (pronounced LIE-nuh) is a 4,267-seat hockey arena at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, that opened in 1957. Named after James Lynah, Class of 1905, who was the director of Cornell athletics from 1935 to 1943, it is home to the ...

; Schoellkopf Memorial Hall, adjacent to the stadium, contains the Robison Hall of Fame Room, the

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

for Cornell athletics.

History

Schoellkopf Memorial Hall, Cornell University

During the 1800s, Cornell athletic teams played on Percy Field, located where Ithaca High School now stands. As the university and town grew, the need for a larger, dedicated stadium on campus became apparent. Following the death of former Cornell football player and head football coach

Henry Schoellkopf Henry Schoellkopf (December 14, 1879 – December 5, 1912) was an American football player and coach. He was selected as an All-American fullback while attending Harvard Law School in 1903. He was the head coach of the Cornell Big Red foot ...

in 1912, his close friend,

Willard Straight Willard Dickerman Straight (January 31, 1880 – December 1, 1918) was an American investment banker, publisher, reporter, diplomat and by marriage, a member of the very wealthy Whitney family. He was a promoter of Chinese arts and investments, an ...

, donated $100,000 () to construct the Schoellkopf Memorial Hall in honor of Henry Schoellkopf. The building was completed in 1913. In response to Straight's gift, members of the Schoellkopf family and the

Zeta Psi Fraternity Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a ...

donated $70,000 () for the construction of Schoellkopf Field in honor of the Schoellkopf family patriarch, Jacob Schoellkopf, Schoellkopf Field was completed in 1915. The opening ceremony for Schoellkopf field took place on Saturday, October 9, 1915, in which an estimated 6,000 people marched in a procession led by university president

Jacob Gould Schurman Jacob Gould Schurman (May 2, 1854 – August 12, 1942) was a Canadian-born American educator and diplomat, who served as President of Cornell University and United States Ambassador to Germany. Early life Schurman was born at Freetown, Prince Ed ...

from Goldwin Smith Hall to the new stadium. It was said to be the largest gathering in Ithaca up to that time. In 1920, a flood searchlight system was installed by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

. The system was intended to allow for play in the fall and winter months, without causing glare in the players' eyes.

Increased capacity

Schoellkopf's original capacity when it was completed was about 9,000, but it has been expanded and changed many times over the years. In 1924, the newly completed "Crescent" replaced the original stands on the east side of the field, increasing seating to about 21,500. In 1947, the stadium's capacity was again increased, this time to a capacity of 25,597, with the construction of permanent steel bleachers on the west side of the field.Cornell Big Red.com
Schoellkopf facts/history accessed 10-09-2007 In 1971, the surface of the field was converted to "Polyturf", an

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 ...

. The field has had its turf replaced by a newer type of turf in 1979, 1988, 1999, and, most recently, in 2008.

Later renovations

1986 saw a $3.6 million renovation, including the construction of a press box on the west side. The press box won an award in 1990 from the Sports Writer's Association of America. New light fixtures were installed in 1986 to allow for televised games at night. During the summer of 2005, renovations on deteriorating concrete forced the university to close the Crescent, but it reopened in time for the fall football season. The renovated Memorial Hall at the north end of the field opened in 2006, containing improved locker rooms and training facilities. The Hall was expanded with a three-story wing on its east side, with the varsity football locker rooms on the first floor, a Hall of Fame Room on the second floor, and a museum of Cornell football memorabilia on the third floor. Over the summer of 2008, Cornell replaced the artificial turf with a FieldTurf pitch.FieldTurf Installation on Schoellkopf Field Continues
CornellBigRed.com accessed 07-07-2008 The west stands, which had been erected in 1947 to increase capacity to 25,597, were torn down in March 2016 after falling into disuse and disrepair.

Commencement and other special events

During May of every year, weather permitting, Schoellkopf is the site of the commencement ceremony for Cornell's

campus. Schoellkopf Field hosted the Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1980 and the

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for junior drum and bugle corps responsible for developing and enforcing rules of competition, and for providing standardized adjudication at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions througho ...

World Championships in 1974.

References

External links