Joe Albi Stadium

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Joe Albi Stadium

Location	Spokane, Washington
Opened	1950
Owner	City of Spokane
Surface	FieldTurf - 2006
Tenants
Capacity	28,646

Joe Albi Stadium is an outdoor multi-purpose athletic stadium located in Spokane, Washington, used primarily for football. Located in the northwest part of the city just east of the Spokane River, the stadium opened in 1950 and has a current seating capacity of 28,646. After 36 seasons of astroturf (1970-2005), FieldTurf was installed in 2006. [1] The playing field runs in the traditional north-south configuration and sits at an elevation of 1890 feet (576 m) above sea level. [2] Over the years it has hosted various events and teams, most notably the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-10.

Prior to the mid-1980s, the WSU Cougars played several home games each season at Joe Albi Stadium, usually before classes began in Pullman in late September. During the stadium's first thiry years (1950-80), WSU hosted the Apple Cup at Joe Albi in the even-numbered years (except 1954), rather than in Pullman. The Cougars won only three of the fifteen Apple Cups played at the Spokane venue (1958, 1968, 1972). The rivalry game returned to Pullman in 1982, where the Cougars have won five of thirteen (1982, 1988, 1992, 1994, 2004) at Martin Stadium.

In 1970 and 1971, the Cougars played their entire home schedule at Joe Albi, after the south grandstand at the wooden Rogers Field stadium on the Pullman campus was damaged by fire in April 1970. The University of Idaho played its home games at Rogers Field in 1969 & 1970 (after the fire), as its wooden Neale Stadium in Moscow had been condemned during the summer of 1969. On September 19, 1970, WSU and Idaho met up in their annual "Battle of the Palouse", which became known as the "Displaced Bowl" (since neither team was able to play on their home field), with the Cougars dominating 44-16. The Vandals played one home football game in Joe Albi Stadium in 1971, a 10-0 win over Colorado State on September 25th. Idaho's new concrete stadium was not quite ready and WSU's Rogers Field was busy, transforming into Martin Stadium. (The mostly-finished "New Idaho Stadium" opened on October 9, 1971 with a win over Idaho State. Tartan Turf in 1972, and the stadium was enclosed in late September 1975 to become the Kibbie Dome.)

Following the revision of the WSU academic calendar in 1984 (the fall semester starting a month earlier in late August), the Cougars have played all of their eastern Washington home games at Martin Stadium in Pullman. WSU last played regular season football games at Joe Albi in September 1983, when the Cougars defeated both Montana State and UNLV. [3] Beginning in 2002, the Cougars have played one "home game" per season in Seattle at the Seahawks' Qwest Field. [4]

Currently Joe Albi Stadium is a part-time home to the EWU Eagles football team. The stadium also hosts local high school football games well as well as many of the state playoff games. It was also the home of the now-defunct Spokane Shadow soccer team.

Recently, the late, former Spokane Mayor, James E. West, proposed to sell the stadium to a real estate developer interested in demolishing the stadium and turning it into a housing development. After a back and forth struggle, plans to raze the stadium have been scrapped.

Amid the debate about what to do with the stadium, an issue about stadium's artificial turf surfaced. As a result of the turf being beyond its useful life in early 2006 and being deemed unsafe, the Spokane Shadow discontinued its usage of Joe Albi Stadium, citing that playing surface was too dangerous for PDL soccer games to be played on. [5] As a consequence, the PDL terminated the Shadow's membership. A short time later, the playing surface dilemma was solved when the school districts of Spokane and Mead agreed to share the cost of replacing the astroturf with FieldTurf, which was installed in August 2006 for under $700,000. [6] The investment by the school districts ensures that Joe Albi will endure for at least the life of the new FieldTurf, estimated to be about a decade.