Robertson Stadium

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Robertson Stadium
"The Mighty Quinn"

Location	3874 Holman St Houston, TX 77004
Broke ground	1941
Opened	1941
Owner	University of Houston
Operator	University of Houston
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$650,000 USD
Architect	Harry Payne
Former names
Houston Public School Stadium (1941-1958) Jeppesen Stadium (1958-1980)
Tenants
Houston Cougars (NCAA) (1998–Present) Houston Dynamo (MLS) (2006–Present) Houston Oilers (AFL) (1960–1964)
Seats
32,000

John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium is a sports stadium in Houston, Texas located on the campus of the University of Houston. It is the current home of the Houston Cougars football and women's soccer teams, as well as Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer, which began play in the 2006 season, winning the MLS Cup. The stadium hosted the Houston Oilers from 1960–1964. The current capacity of Robertson Stadium is 32,000.

[edit] History

The stadium was originally constructed as a joint project between the Houston Independent School District and the WPA. Completed in 1942 and originally holding 20,500, the structure was originally named the Houston Public School Stadium. The University of Houston played its home games there from 1946–1950, before moving to Rice Stadium in 1951 and then to the Astrodome in 1965. The school district renamed the stadium Jeppesen Stadium (for Holgar Jeppeson) in 1958. When Corbin J. Robertson funded renovations and additions, the stadium was given to the University of Houston in 1970 to host its track and field team and renamed Robertson Stadium in 1980.

The stadium was heavily renovated in 1999, lowering the playing field by nine feet and eliminating the track so as to add new seating on the sidelines and end zones, and building 20 luxury suites. The stadium still holds the Robertson name, but the field was named in honor of John O'Quinn, a donor to the project.

Several new projects have taken place in 2006, thanks in part to $1.7 million dollars provided up front from the Houston Dynamo. The lights were upgraded in the spring, making the viewing experiece tremendously better both in person and on TV. Construction on a new scoreboard and widescreen jumbotron is scheduled to begin in August 2006 and be completed by the first home game, September 9 against Tulane University.

UH has hired architecture firm Leo A. Daly to assess the stadium and see what renovations can be done to the stadium in terms of long-term and prolonged improvements.

Further plans have been prepared to replace the end zone sections with a permanent bowl and add an upper deck, raising the capacity to 50,000, but construction has not yet begun.

[edit] External links

Preceded by: first stadium	Home of the Houston Oilers 1960–1964	Succeeded by: Rice Stadium 1965–1967

Preceded by: first stadium	Home of the Houston Dynamo 2006–present	Succeeded by: current

University of Houston System

Universities: University of Houston | UH–Clear Lake | UH–Downtown | UH–Victoria

Satellite campuses: UHS at Cinco Ranch | UHS at Sugar Land

Western Conference		Eastern Conference
Current Stadiums in Major League Soccer
Dick's Sporting Goods Park \| The Home Depot Center \| Pizza Hut Park \| Rice-Eccles Stadium \| Robertson Stadium		Arrowhead Stadium \| Columbus Crew Stadium \| BMO Field \| Giants Stadium \| Gillette Stadium \| RFK Memorial Stadium \| Toyota Park