Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium
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| Mountaineer Field | |
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| Location | Morgantown, WV |
| Opened | September 6, 1980 |
| Owner | West Virginia University |
| Operator | West Virginia University |
| Surface | FieldTurf |
| Construction cost | $22 million |
| Tenants | West Virginia Mountaineers (NCAA) (1980-Present) |
| Capacity | 60,180 [1] |
Mountaineer Field , in Morgantown, West Virginia, is the football stadium for the West Virginia University Mountaineers, NCAA, Bowl Sub-division football team.
The original Mountaineer Field was located on the school's downtown campus, but it could not be expanded or modernized due to the proximity of campus buildings and roads near the stadium. It seated 38,000 when it was last used in 1979. The new stadium was originally to be called Mountaineer Stadium, but the fans ignored this and called it New Mountaineer Field, with the "new" eventually falling into disuse. Mountaineer Field was constructed in 1980 on the former site of a golf course between the Law School and Medical School buildings. The stadium's original cost was $22 million. Upon completion it had a seating capacity of 50,000. The stadium has been expanded as follows: in 1985 7,500 seats were added to the south end zone for $7.5 million, the next year 6,000 seats were added to the north end zone for $650,000, and in 2004 luxury suites were added for a cost of $21.1 million, the entire cost of the project paid for privately by a donation from local generic pharmaceutical magnate, Milan Puskar. The most recent expansion actually reduced the seating capacity by 3,500, so the current capacity is 60,000. In summer of 2007 approximately 500 seats were added in the corners of the north end zone and above the weight room in the south end zone. Although the University of South Florida plays at the larger Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the University of Pittsburgh plays at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mountaineer Field is still the largest on-campus facility in the Big East Conference. There are five banks of lights located on the perimeter of the stadium and one long bank along the top of the press box. The field surface was replaced in the summer of 2007, after the 5 year old playing surface was beginning to show signs of wear. The company that installed the 5 year old surface went out of business and was not available to maintain the worn surface. There are 12 luxury seats on the first level of the press box, 18 in the north end zone, and 648 club seats in the north end zone called "Touchdown Terrace".
The Caperton Indoor Facility, opened in 1998, sits adjacent to Mountaineer Field and provides a versatile, modern indoor workout space equipped with a 90-yard Astro-Turf 12 playing surface with seven yards of safety zone surrounding the entire field. Total length from wall to wall is 105 yards, with more than 75,000 square feet of practice room. Skylights provide natural lighting. The facility is also used by baseball and men's and women's soccer.
Mountaineer Field has occasionally hosted larger crowds than its listed capacity; the current attendance record is 70,222 against Miami on November 20, 1993. On a home game Saturday, attendance figures at the stadium make it the largest "city" in West Virginia, since the populations of both Charleston and Huntington remained below 60,000 according to the 2000 United States Census
Mountaineer Field has also hosted non-university football games in the past. One notable game was a pre-season exhibition match on August 22, 1998 between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Atlanta Falcons, both National Football League teams. Old Mountaineer Field had also hosted an NFL game in 1968 between the Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The stadium is also the location where the annual "MoHawk Bowl" is played between Morgantown High School and University High School, the two public high schools located in Morgantown.
When Mountaineer Field was dedicated in the fall of 1980, fans were surprised when singer John Denver made an appearance and led the fans in the singing of his hit song "Take Me Home, Country Roads". The song has been played at every Mountaineers home game since 1972. In recent years, the song has been the subject of a new tradition; after a Mountaineers win, the players lead the crowd in singing the song.
Denver's 1980 appearance marked the dedication of the new Mountaineer Field as well as the first game for coach Don Nehlen.
Going into the 2007 football season, the stadium turf was changed from the AstroPlay surface installed in 2002 to the more popular FieldTurf surface. The cost was estimated to be near $1 million. The turf was ready in time for the fall 2007 season, even after the endzone sections had to be replaced because they were the incorrect shade of blue (too light).
Along with the new turf, additions to the touchdown terrace on the north end zone are being made. Constructions to completely enclose the terrace and add 180 more seats was finished before the start of the season.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- MSNsportsNET.com athletic facility information
- WVMountaineerSports Your Source for WVU Mountaineers Football and Basketball
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