Gene Cox Stadium

Gene Cox Stadium is a municipal American football venue for local teams in Tallahassee, FL. It seats approximately 5,500 fans, but has room to accommodate an additional 1,000 persons. Currently, Gene Cox Stadium serves all nine public middle schools and the five public high schools located in Leon County. infobox stadium
name = Gene Cox Stadium
nickname = "Gene Cox"


fullname = Gene Cox Stadium at Hurley Rudd Field
location = Paul Russell Road, Tallahassee, FL
coordinates =
broke_ground =
built = 1961-62 School year as Capitol Field
opened =
renovated =
expanded =
closed =
demolished =
owner = Leon County Schools
operator =
surface = Natural Grass
construction_cost =
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structural engineer =
services engineer =
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former_names = Capital Stadium (1969-1998)
tenants = Leon County Public Schools (1969- )
capacity = 5,500 (seating) 6,500 (max)
dimensions =
scoreboard =

History

The stadium was built in 1969 during a time when the addition of a third local high school called for the construction of a centralized, shared facility. Ultimately, a location bordering the North Florida Fairgrounds on the south side of town was selected for this purpose. Originally called Capital Stadium, the name was changed in 1998 to honor local high school coaching legend Gene Cox shortly after his retirement. Later on, the natural grass field was named in honor of four-term Florida state legislator and former Tallahassee, FL mayor, Hurley W. Rudd Sr..

Football Use

Today, Gene Cox Stadium is home to all Leon County middle school football games and most home games for the local public high schools, including: Chiles High School, Godby High School, Leon High School, Lincoln High School, and Rickards High School. Due to the large demand for use of the stadium, all home game scheduling is channeled through Leon County Schools and oftentimes results in high school football games being played on Thursdays and Fridays. While it is not uncommon for games to also be played at Chiles High School and Leon High School, all intercity matchups take place at Gene Cox Stadium. ["Leon County Schools". 7 Aug. 2008. http://www.leon.k12.fl.us/]

The stadium is officially a neutral site for all Tallahassee, FL public high schools, with the designated home and away teams in intercity games rotating on a year by year basis. However, the field has been occasionally painted by the county during the postseason to support specific area teams in the playoffs.

Other Use

In addition to serving Leon County public school football, Gene Cox Stadium also hosts several other annual events, such as the regional high school marching band tournament and the spring football combine. In 2006, it was the fall training site for the Tallahassee Titans, an American Indoor Football Association franchise, during the team's only season.

References