Strawberry Stadium is a 7,408-seat football/soccer stadium in

Hammond, Louisiana Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, located east of Baton Rouge and northwest of New Orleans. Its population was 20,019 in the 2010 U.S. census, and 21,359 at the 2020 population estimates program. Ham ...

. It is home to the

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

Lions

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team. The stadium also hosts St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School football, previously hosted Hammond High School football, and has been the site of numerous play-off games involving other schools from

Tangipahoa Parish Tangipahoa Parish (; French: ''Paroisse de Tangipahoa'') is a parish located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 121,097. The parish seat is Amite City, while the largest city is ...

History

The facility was constructed in 1937 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's WPA program under Project 1304. The steel and concrete structure was built to hold 8,500 spectators and included 36 dorm rooms to house 144 students. Additional facilities in the stadium include a social room, café, music rooms, a band room, and dressing rooms for several sports teams. "The stadium was completed in only 16 weeks, due in part to the eagerness of Governor Leche, who reputedly pulled workers from other government construction projects in the area to work on the stadium. Leche initially planned to name the stadium after himself, but it instead was decidedly named in honor of the local strawberry farmers. A plaque still remains on the north end of East Stadium in honor of governor Leche's contribution."

Renovations

A renovation completed prior to the 2008 football season added club seating, six luxury suites, each accommodating 15 fans, as well as 116 seats outside of the Victory Club. The renovation also increased the press box size. In addition, a new multilevel parking garage for 500 vehicles was constructed to the west of the stadium and connected to it. Before the 2012 season, new turf was installed after being used at the

Mercedes-Benz Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

Notable events

The 1975

Louisiana High School Athletic Association The Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) is the agency that regulates and promotes the interscholastic athletic competitions of all high schools in the state of Louisiana. Organization LHSAA was founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in ...

Class AAAA state championship game was contested at Strawberry Stadium. St. Augustine, New Orleans' all-black, all-male Catholic high school, won its first LHSAA championship by defeating Covington High 35–13.

References

External links

Strawberry Stadium
at Lionsports.net College football venues Southeastern Louisiana Lions football American football venues in Louisiana Lacrosse venues in Louisiana Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Sports venues in Hammond, Louisiana Sports venues completed in 1937 1937 establishments in Louisiana {{Louisiana-stadium-stub

History

Renovations

Notable events

See also

References

External links