War Memorial Stadium (Wyoming)
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| War Memorial Stadium | |
|---|---|
| "The War" | |
| Location | E Grand Ave & N 22nd St Laramie, Wyoming 82071 |
| Broke ground | August 15, 1949 (grounds) March 1, 1950 (building) |
| Opened | September 16, 1950 |
| Owner | University of Wyoming |
| Operator | University of Wyoming |
| Surface | Artificial Turf (2005) |
| Construction cost | $1,533,333 (combined with Fieldhouse) |
| Tenants | University of Wyoming Cowboys |
| Capacity | 32,580 |
- For other stadiums known as War Memorial Stadium, see War Memorial Stadium.
Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Wyoming in Laramie, the home field of the Wyoming Cowboys of the Mountain West Conference. It is the highest Division I college football stadium in the nation; the playing field sits at a lofty 7215 feet (2199 m) above sea level.[1] (The next highest stadium is Falcon Stadium at the U.S. Air Force Academy, which is about 600 feet (182 m) lower.)
War Memorial Stadium was built (along with the War Memorial Fieldhouse) in the spring and summer of 1950. The stadium, which replaced tiny Corbett Field, originally sat 20,000 in grandstands on the east & west sides of the field. In 1970, the western upper deck, containing 5,500 seats and a new press box, was added, and in 1978 the eastern press box and northern bleachers were added, bringing capacity up to 33,500. The playing field runs mostly in the traditional north-south configuration, it is slightly skewed (about 10 degrees) to the NE-SW.
In 2001 a new video scoreboard was added and the bleachers in the north endzone were moved to the south endzone. In 2004, the western stands were refurbished and the press box expanded, bringing the stadium to its current capacity. In 2005, the natural grass at War Memorial Stadium was replaced by infilled artificial turf, similar to FieldTurf. The new surface, known as "Desso Challenge Pro 60 Monofilament Synthetic Turf," is the first of its kind in Division I-A football. [2] The field itself was renamed "Jonah Field" in honor of the Wyoming gas fields owned by the primary benefactors of the turf project, the Martin and McMurry families.
Below the new north endzone scoreboard is a 62" statue named "Cowboy Tough" by Chris Navarro. "Fanning a Twister", located to the north of the stadium at the main entrance to the athletic complex, is modeled after a photo of Guy Holt riding "Steamboat," the 1909 winner of "Worst Horse" at Frontier Park in Cheyenne.[1] In the 1920s, an equipment manager named Deane Hunton had found the picture. Thinking it embodied the spirit of the athletics program and the cowboy life, he stenciled an outline of it, which has become the familiar logo of the university (also found on state license plates and many other places around the state).[2][3]
[edit] External links
- Wyoming Athletics.cstv.com - War Memorial Stadium
- Wyoming Athletics.cstv.com - 2005 turf project
- Terraserver.microsoft.com - USGS topo map (& aerial photo) of UW campus
[edit] Notes
- ^ Art Inventories Catalog: "Fanning a Twister"
- ^ MacCambridge, Michael, ed. ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. New York: Hyperion Books, 2005. Pg. 1026.
- ^ 2006 Wyoming Cowboys Football Media Guide, pgs. 6-18.
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