Cessna Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cessna Stadium, located in Wichita, Kansas, is the home of the Wichita State University Shocker track and field and soccer teams. It has seats for 30,000. Originally constructed in 1969, and renovated in 1996, Cessna Stadium was built over the site of the Shockers' former home, Veterans Field.
Wichita State University rededicated the facility on April 16, 2002 to mark the end of the seven-month, $1.3 million construction that included adding an eighth lane and resurfacing the track, reconfiguring the infield event layout, and building separate locker rooms for the Shocker men's and women's track and field teams. The first event in the renovated facility was WSU's annual K.T. Woodman Track and Field Classic, which is scheduled every April.
One of the most modern and complete football facilities in the nation at the time of its completion, Cessna Stadium was home to Shocker football until 1986, and is still the venue of the Kansas State High School Track and Field Championship, the Shockers' annual K.T. Woodman Track Classic, as well as several Missouri Valley Conference Track and Field Championship meets. The stadium has also played host to numerous Kansas State High School Football Championship games; the Shrine Bowl, Kansas's high school all-star football game; Pittsburg State-Mesa State Division II football game; and numerous High School City League football games. [1]
Wichita State football discontinued its football program in 1986 in the wake of a plane crash on October 2, 1970 when one of two planes carrying players, staff and fans to a football game at Utah State University crashed near Silver Plume, Colorado. Many were injured, and 31 people lost their lives. [2]
On October 1, 2006, as part of their A Bigger Bang Tour, The Rolling Stones performed their first-ever concert in Wichita, held at Cessna Stadium, which was set up to accommodate 35,000 to 40,000 fans. [3]
