Houseman Field
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Houseman Field is a 10,000-seat multipurpose stadium located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is named for former mayor and Congressman Julius Houseman and is the home of the Grand Rapids Community College Raiders football and the Aquinas College Saints tracks teams. It is also used for high school football; in fact the Grand Rapids Public Schools owns this stadium.
Houseman's daughter, Hattie donated six acres of land to the school district in 1907 for use as an athletic field; while it would be used for the Grand Rapids Central High School football team's football practices in the next fifteen years, it wasn't until 1923 that the current stadium was built on that site; its first event was Central's 42-0 victory over Sparta High School. Grand Rapids Central is currently the longest serving tenant of Houseman Field; other high schools, including Creston High School, Catholic Central High School and West Catholic High School also play their home games at this stadium, owing to the growing number of high schools in Grand Rapids.
The football field was expanded in 1926; lights were installed in 1940 and artificial turf replaced grass in 1973. Other renovations have been minor.