World War I Memorial Stadium (previously 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 ...

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city and county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. As of the 2020 cen ...

, United States. From its opening in 1922 until 1967 it was the home field of the

Kansas State Wildcats football The Kansas State Wildcats football program (variously Kansas State, K-State or KSU) is the intercollegiate football program of the Kansas State University Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and ...

team, prior to the opening of

Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Bill Snyder Family Stadium is a stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. It is used for American football, and is the home field of the Kansas State University Wildcats football team. It is named after the family of head coach Bill Snyder. Over the past 31 ...

. It was also used by

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

for

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

Stadium history

The stadium was built and named in tribute to Kansas State students who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The west stands were built in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, and the stands on the east side of the stadium were completed two years later. Its general

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 ...

was 17,500 people when completed, although attendance sometimes exceeded 20,000. The stadium was built at the location of

Ahearn Field Ahearn Field was the first on-campus athletic field for Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It was used from 1911 to 1922 by the football team, baseball team, and track team. It was named in honor of former coach Mike Ahearn Michael ...

, and as late as 1938 the field was still known as Ahearn Field at Memorial Stadium. The original plans for the stadium included an enclosed bowl, but the final phase of the stadium was never built. In 2015–16, both sides of the stadium were renovated, with much of the seating bowl converted to

gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

. The stadium was officially re-dedicated as "World War I Memorial Stadium" on April 21, 2017.

Football history

The first game held at the stadium was on October 6,

, when only the west wing of the stadium was complete. Kansas State defeated

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 ...

in that initial contest 47–0. The east wing of the stadium opened for the 1924 season. Four years later in 1928, a two-story wooden press-box was added to the east wing. The upper level was for press, while the lower level featured boxes for distinguished alumni and guests. A pre-World War II record crowd of 17,545 attended the Wildcats' game against #6 Oklahoma on November 11, 1939. Kansas State lost the game 13–10. After the war there were a handful of games where attendance exceeded 20,000, including a crowd of 23,822 to watch #18 Kansas State play #9 Oklahoma in 1953. The first

night Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...

college football game at Memorial Stadium was played on September 20,

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

. Oklahoma A&M defeated Kansas State by a score of 12–0.

Stadium today

Athletic events

The stadium is still used for athletics. In 2002 the grass field was replaced with FieldTurf and the cinder track was replaced with a rubberized surface. The playing field is now painted for use by the school's club MCLA lacrosse team,

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 ...

team, and is also used as the home pitch for the Rugby team, as well as the

marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...

's practice field.

Other uses

In addition to the stadium's use for athletics, the areas underneath the stadium's seats are utilized for university offices and academic purposes. The East Stadium now houses the newly renovated Berney Family Welcome Center, while the West Stadium houses a newly built Purple Masque Theater. KSUMemorialStadium1

Through the years, occasional concerts and band competitions have been held in the stadium.

Nick the ghost

There is a campus legend that the Purple Masque Theater is haunted by a

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

named "Nick", allegedly the spirit of a football player who died in the 1950s. Stories are told of boxes and chairs being shuffled, noises heard, and a fire extinguisher being expelled. No player named Nick is recorded to have died at the stadium, but there are stories of deaths of players with other names that may have fed into the legend.CatZone Virtual Stadium

References

{{Kansas college football venues Defunct college football venues American football venues in Kansas Kansas State Wildcats football venues Reportedly haunted locations in Kansas Defunct sports venues in Kansas 1922 establishments in Kansas