Memorial Stadium (Kent)

Memorial Stadium
Location	Kent, Ohio, USA
Opened	1950[1]
Closed	1968
Demolished	1969
Owner	Kent State University
Operator	Kent State University
Surface	natural grass
Capacity	5,600 (initial - 1950)[2]
Tenants
Kent State Golden Flashes Football (1950-1968) Kent State Golden Flashes Track and Field (1950-1968)

Memorial Stadium was a stadium in Kent, Ohio, USA on the campus of Kent State University that served as home of the Kent State Golden Flashes football and track and field teams from 1950 through the 1968 season.^[1] Although Kent State had fielded a football team since 1920, Memorial Stadium was the team's first stadium as they had previously played on a field behind Merrill Hall in the old section of campus. The stadium opened on October 14, 1950 with a 57-0 victory over Marietta College^[1] and was later expanded in the mid-1950s with additional permanent and auxiliary seating.^[3] Rather than demolish the stadium, the university instead dismantled most of Memorial Stadium's bleachers and reconstructed them in a new configuration at the current Dix Stadium (also known as Memorial Stadium until 1971) site. The main sideline bleachers became the end zone seats at the new stadium while the auxiliary seating formed the east side bleachers.

Site today

The site of Memorial Stadium today serves as the main visitor parking lot adjacent to the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center and the Kent State student center. Of the pieces of the original stadium, only one still remains in use at Dix Stadium. Dix Stadium's current north end zone seating was the original south sideline seating area at Memorial Stadium, though prior to the 2007 season the original press box was removed and the entire seating area was repainted. The auxiliary seating areas at Memorial Stadium, which served as the east stands at Dix Stadium, were torn down after the 2001 season and were replaced in time for the 2003 season. In February 2008, the south end zone bleachers, the original north sideline seats at Memorial Stadium, were razed as part of Dix Stadium's most recent upgrades.

See also

• Kent State University
• Kent State Golden Flashes
• Dix Stadium

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Dix Stadium". KentStateSports.com. Kent State University. 2008-09-02. http://www.kentstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=11400&ATCLID=1573507. Retrieved 2008-09-10. 
2. ^ Kent State University Athletics. Charleston, South Carolina, Chicago, Illinois, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and San Francisco, California: Arcadia. 2008. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-7385-5176-0. 
3. ^ Kent State University Bulletin. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University. 1955-1956; 1956-1957. The picture of the stadium from the 1955-1956 Bulletin shows the stadium with just one main section of seating (on the south side) and smaller bleachers on the north side while the picture from 1956-1957 shows a larger section of seating on the north side had been added identical to the south side along with small end zone bleachers.

Coordinates: 41°08′52″N 81°20′37″W / 41.1479046°N 81.3435352°W / 41.1479046; -81.3435352