Tournament Park is a park and athletics venue in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, United States, northeast of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Currently maintained by the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, it was simply known as the "town lot" before being renamed "Tournament Park" Tournament Park gets its name from the

Tournament of Roses The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Mon ...

, and it served as a venue in the early 20th century for events associated with the Tournament, such as chariot races, ostrich races, and even a race between a camel and an elephant. Besides hosting Tournament of Roses events, the venue hosted other events at the turn of the 20th century, such as the Southern California Horse Show Association's annual horse show. Tournament Park is best known as the site of the first eight

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

Background

Its

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 ...

in 1922 was 43,000, many of which were in temporary wooden bleachers that the city deemed unsafe, thus necessitating the construction of the Rose Bowl stadium, about northwest. Tournament Park hosted a handful of USC football games, chiefly against out-of-state opponents, in the 1910s and 1920s prior to the construction of

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

, since the park dwarfed USC's then on-campus venue of

Bovard Field Bovard Field was a stadium in Los Angeles, California, on the campus of the University of Southern California. The Trojans football team played here until they moved to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1923 and it was the home of USC baseball ...

. Following the departure of the New Year's Day game to the new stadium in 1923, the facility's capacity was reduced substantially, though the parade route ended at Tournament Park for a number of years following the Rose Bowl's completion. Tournament Park, along with the Rose Bowl, served as the venue for

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

's football team until the school dropped the program. The stadium site, now known as South Athletic Field, is bounded by the Fox-Stanton Track (named after former Caltech football coach Fox Stanton), and continues to serve as Caltech's track and field venue. The surrounding park, which continues under the Tournament Park moniker, contains a playground and picnic facility. The

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 the park is approximately 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 ...

Bowl games at Tournament Park

File:1st-Rose-Bowl-game-1902.jpg, The first Rose Bowl Game in 1902 File:1921 Rose Bowl.JPG , 1921 Rose Bowl

References

{{Authority control Parks in Los Angeles County, California Sports venues in Los Angeles County, California California Institute of Technology buildings and structures College track and field venues in the United States Geography of Pasadena, California History of Pasadena, California American football venues in California Athletics (track and field) venues in California Defunct college football venues Defunct horse racing venues in California Defunct NCAA bowl game venues Rose Bowl Game Tournament of Roses USC Trojans football venues 1900 establishments in California

Background

Bowl games at Tournament Park

See also

References