Washington-Grizzly Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Washington-Grizzly Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Montana on Campus Dr in Missoula, Montana. It is home to the Montana Grizzlies of the Big Sky Conference, a dominant program in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The stadium opened on October 18, 1986 and since then the Griz have racked up an impressive 133-19(.875) record at home. The stadium has a current seating capacity of 23,117. The SprinTurf playing field is 20 feet (6 m) below ground level; it runs in the traditional north-south configuration and sits at an elevation of 3190 feet (972 m) above sea level. [1]
The stadium received its name after Montana construction magnate Dennis Washington donated $1 million to finance the stadium's construction in 1985. The stadium has been expanded three times since its opening in 1986, most recently in 2003 when 4000 additional seats were added. An upper deck expansion of 2,000 seats will be constructed on the east side of the stadium after the 2007 season.
The original seating capacity in 1986 was 12,500 permanent seats on the sidelines with grass seating behind the end zones, an approximate capacity of 15,000. Permanent seating for the end zones was installed in 1995, bringing the seating capacity to over 19,000.
SprinTurf was installed in 2001, replacing the natural grass. The video screen GrizVision, was installed in 2002. At 26' × 36' (8 m × 11 m), it is the largest in a FCS football stadium.
Before Washington-Grizzly Stadium opened, the Grizzlies played off-campus at "new" Dornblaser Field from 1968-86. Before that, Montana played on-campus at "old" Dornblaser Field from 1920-67 (both named for Paul Dornblaser, football captain in 1912). Prior to 1920, Montana played its home games at a field in downtown Missoula near the former Missoulian newspaper building.
The 5 largest crowds at Washington-Grizzly Stadium are:
- 24,018 vs. Montana State, 2006
- 23,867 vs. Montana State, 2004
- 23,773 vs. Weber State, 2005
- 23,732 vs. Eastern Washington, 2005
- 23,687 vs. Cal Poly, 2003
[edit] Concerts
June 20, 1998 - Pearl Jam kicked-off their North American tour at a sold out Washington-Grizzly stadium.
October 4, 2006 - The Rolling Stones played to a sold-out audience of more than 22,000 during a stop on their A Bigger Bang Tour.
[edit] External links
- Montana Grizzlies.com - about Washington-Grizzly Stadium
- E Griz.com - Message board for University of Montana Fans.
- World Stadiums.com - Washington-Grizzly Stadium
- Terraserver.microsoft.com - aerial photo (& USGS topo map) - UM campus
|
|