Big Ten Countdown 23: Memorial Stadiums - Nebraska, Indiana, Illinois

Glad to do so. IU’s current Memorial Stadium opened in 1960. It is, by a comfortable margin, the youngest Big Ten stadium other than Minnesota’s two-year old TCF Bank Stadium. When it opened, the stadium was named “IU Stadium,” and the old stadium, which since has been demolished, was Memorial Stadium. Eventually, the name was migrated north. Anyone who wonders what the old one looked like can watch Breaking Away, the Academy Award-winning movie based on IU’s Little 500. Here’s a shot of the stadium when it was past its football-hosting days:

Obviously, this provides a little insight into IU’s lack of commitment to football over the years. IU continued to play in this little place until 1959, a generation or more after Michigan, OSU, and Illinois built their football palaces (although temporary bleachers that aren’t visible in this shot made it a little bigger).

As for the current Memorial Stadium, it opened in 1960 with a capacity of 48,000, later expanded to 52,000 with the addition of some rickety endzone bleachers. Here is a picture of the stadium in the late 1990s, but other than the addition of the endzone bleachers and some other tweaks (new scoreboards, and surface changes to astroturf in the early 1970s/natural grass in 1998/modern artificial turf in 2003), that’s pretty much how it looked from 1960 through 2007.

It may or may not be clear from this photo, but the west grandstand, the one with the pressbox, is substantially taller than the east. The original design was for a stadium with a capacity of around 60,000 with two tall grandstands. Interestingly, or not, Memorial Stadium was practically identical to Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium before it was expanded in the last decade or so, except that VT had the pressbox on the short side of the stadium, and IU’s west grandstand has a two tiered concourse.

In any event, after it had been discussed for a couple of decades or so, IU finally broke ground on a north end zone structure in 2007, just days after IU coach Terry Hoeppner, who had played a big part in promoting the project, died of cancer. The north end zone building now houses the athletic department’s offices, the locker rooms, player lounge, and other things that are considered essential these days, and a weight room that is claimed as the nation’s largest. Here is a post I wrote in 2009 after walking into the stadium like I belonged there, showing the nearly complete construction.

I’m biased, but compared to the erector-set looking expansions that some school’s have done, I think IU’s looks great. If it weren’t for the obvious age difference in construction materials, it would look like it has been that way forever. Here’s an image from IU’s official site from last year’s Michigan game.

I post this photo to pre-empt the inevitable dig from Purdue fans that we can only get a decent picture of a full house when Ohio State brings 25,000 fans dressed in red. The new design only added about 1500 seats total, because the old end zone bleachers were demolished, but it allowed IU to add some premium seating and to give the stadium, in my opinion, a much more big time appearance (“high school stadium” was a common dig when almost all of the seating was along the sidelines).

I’m short on time, but I think the relative youth of the stadium accounts for its best and worst attributes. On the positive side, compared to other Big Ten stadiums, the seats and aisles and concourses are very accommodating (although restrooms and concessions need an upgrade). The concave design makes the sightlines excellent. I think it’s a great place to watch a game, even from seats near the goal line and down low, which sets it apart from many college stadiums. There is plenty of parking and tailgating territory.

On the negative site, the 1960s concrete design gives it a somewhat sterile feel, although the new addition adds some style to the place. The design that makes the sightlines good does tend to take the fans away from the field. Because the campus was mostly built out when this stadium was built, the main part of IU’s campus feels disconnected from gameday. The stadium is in the middle of a parking lot. It’s really not a bad atmosphere, but it would be a hike to stroll through the oldest part of IU’s campus and then walk to the stadium.

So, that’s my quick effort.