Memorial Stadium (Kansas State)

Memorial Stadium is a stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. For several decades it was used by Kansas State University for college football and track and field. It was the home field of the K-State's football team between 1922 and 1967, prior to the opening of Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Built in tribute to Kansas State students who died in World War I, the stadium held 20,000 people and was opened in 1922. The east stands were built in 1922, while the stands on the west side of the stadium were completed two years later. The original plan to enclose the stadium in a "horseshoe" shape was never executed due to a shortage of funds during the Great Depression.^[1]

Football history

The first night college football game at Memorial Stadium was played on September 20, 1947. Oklahoma A&M defeated Kansas State by a score of 12-0.^[2]

The stadium today

Athletic events

The stadium is still used for athletics. In 2002 the grass field was replaced with FieldTurf and the cinder track was replaced with a rubberized surface. The playing field is now painted for use by the school's club MCLA lacrosse team, soccer team, and is also used as the home pitch for the Rugby team, as well as the marching band's practice field.^[1]

Other uses

In addition to the stadium's use for athletics, the areas underneath the stadium's seats are utilized for university offices and academic purposes. The East Stadium houses the KSU Telecommunications Department and the Purple Masque Theater, while the West Stadium houses facilities used by art students (particularly students of Ceramics, Painting, and Sculpture) and offices for Graduate Students in the Art Department.

Nick the ghost

There is a campus legend that the Purple Masque Theater is haunted by a ghost named "Nick", allegedly the spirit of a football player who died in the 1950s. Stories are told of boxes and chairs being shuffled, noises heard, and a fire extinguisher being expelled.^[3] No player named Nick is recorded to have died at the stadium, but there are stories of deaths of players with other names that may have fed into the legend.^[4]

References