The Cycledrome was an

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 wi ...

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 ...

and

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

located in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

.This reference erroneously calls it the "Cyclodome." Its name derived from its intended use as a

bicycle racing Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling ...

stadium (velodrome) when it was built in 1925 by sports promoter Pete Laudati. The stadium was home to the Providence Steam Roller of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL) from 1925 to 1933, who played their games in the infield of the velodrome. The football field was snugly surrounded by a wooden track with steeply-banked ends, which cut sharply into the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

s and reduced them to just five yards in depth. During football games, temporary seating was permitted on the straight-away portion of the track, which was so close to the field that players, after being tackled, often found themselves in the stands. In 1930 floodlights were installed at the stadium for night games, and the Steam Roller became the first NFL team to host a game under lights. The Cycledrome had a capacity of 10,000 spectators. The Cycledrome was located off North Main Street, near the Providence- Pawtucket line. In its later years, the Cycledrome was the location of the E.M. Loewe's drive-in theater. The site is now home to an

Ocean State Job Lot Ocean State Job Lot (abbreviation: OSJL or simply Job Lot) is an northeastern American chain of discount closeout retailers founded in Rhode Island in 1977. In addition to its origin state, it operates stores throughout the Northeastern United S ...

and a Peter Pan Bus Terminal.

Notes

References

Defunct college football venues Defunct National Football League venues Providence Friars football Providence Steam Roller American football venues in Rhode Island Soccer venues in Rhode Island Defunct sports venues in Rhode Island Demolished sports venues in the United States Velodromes in the United States Buildings and structures in Providence, Rhode Island Sports venues demolished in 1938 Sports venues completed in 1925 1925 establishments in Rhode Island 1937 disestablishments in Rhode Island {{ProvidenceRI-struct-stub