Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium

Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
Dowdy
Full name	Bagwell Field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
Former names	Ficklen Memorial Stadium (1963–1994)
Location	Blackbeard's Alley, Greenville, North Carolina 27858
Coordinates	35°35′47″N 77°21′55″W / 35.59639°N 77.36528°W / 35.59639; -77.36528Coordinates: 35°35′47″N 77°21′55″W / 35.59639°N 77.36528°W / 35.59639; -77.36528
Broke ground	1962
Built	1962-1963
Opened	September 21, 1963
Renovated	1991 - $1.6 million in repairs and renovations
Expanded	1967–1968 - increased seating capacity to 20,000 1977–1978 - increased seating capacity to 35,000 1996–1998 - increased seating capacity to 43,000 2010 - increased seating capacity to 50,000
Owner	East Carolina University
Operator	East Carolina University
Surface	Bermuda Grass
Construction cost	$283,387
Architect	Dudley & Shoe
Capacity	50,000
Tenants
East Carolina Pirates (NCAA) (1963–present)

Bagwell Field at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium is the on-campus football facility for the East Carolina Pirates in Greenville, North Carolina. The official capacity of the stadium is 50,000, making it the third largest college stadium in North Carolina. The record attendance for the stadium was on October 16, 2010 against North Carolina State University with 50,410 in attendance. The stadium is also the site of Spring Commencement exercises for the University.^[1]

History

Original construction

The initiative to build a new stadium was announced on October 7, 1961. On that day, President Leo Jenkins announced to a meeting of boosters, that a new stadium will be built to replace College Stadium. By 1962, over $280,000 was raised and Ficklen Memorial Stadium was built.^[2] The stadium was named for James Skinner Ficklen, the owner of Greenville’s E.B. Skinner Tobacco Company. Skinner was a booster of the college, and established a scholarship fund in his name.^[3] The original stadium included permanent stands on the south side, a press box, and a lighting system.^[4] Ficklen Memorial Stadium opened on September 21, 1963 with a win against Wake Forest.^[2] The original seating capacity was 10,000.^[3]

Early expansions

The north side permanent seating was constructed in 1967 and 1968, increasing the capacity of the stadium to 20,000.^[4] The seats were designed by W.M. Freeman Associates from High Point, North Carolina. The exterior of the stadium was painted in 1970 by F.A. Miller Company.^[3] The lighting system was the next item that changed. The original lighting system was replaced with six towers outside of the stadium in 1975. The cost of the new lighting system was $450,000.^[2] L.E. Wooten company built the lighting system.^[3]

Pirate Statue at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

The next addition occurred two years later. The university added seats to the four corners increased the seating capacity to 35,000. This addition made Ficklen Memorial Stadium the third largest stadium in North Carolina.^[4] The expansion was funded by a 2.5 million drive in the spring of 1977. The three-story press box which is currently in use was built during that expansion. The press box had space for 92 writers and an entire floor for electronic media. Lastly, scoreboard with a lightbank message center was placed on the east end of the stadium. The playing surface was redone in 1983. A new drainage system, new base of gravel and sand, new treated topsoil, and a new grass—Tifton 419 Hybrid Bermuda were all installed.^[2] A new sound system was built in 1988.^[3]

1990s expansions

In 1991, $1.6 million in renovations and repairs was done to the stadium.^[3]

Ronald and Mary Ellen Dowdy of Orlando, Florida, donated one million dollars during a fund-raising drive in 1994. Because of this donation, Ficklen Memorial Stadium was renamed Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium.^[2] Also that year the roads were improved around the stadium.^[3] A year later, Al and Debbie Bagwell of Lake Gaston, Virginia donated to the East Carolina Educational Foundation. Because of this donation, the field inside the stadium was named Bagwell Field.^[2]

The upper deck on the north side was completed in 1998. It increased the capacity to 40,000. This was the first seating capacity increase since 1977. A year later the club level on the north side was completed. It added 3,000 seats to the total capacity.^[4] During the expansion of the upper deck and club level, the press box received improvements.^[3] In 1999, a $2 million scoreboard was built in the east endzone.^[2] Also that year a Pirate sculpture was dedicated in the southeast area of the stadium. The three-ton bronze sculpture is over 20 feet (6.1 m) tall. Irwin Belk gave the sculpture to the school. Jodi Hollnagel, a faculty member of the School of Art created the sculpture.^[3][5]

Murphy Center construction

The $13 million Murphy Center was dedicated on September 13, 2002. It was built in the west endzone of the stadium. It connects the stadium to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. The 52,475-square-foot (4,875.1 m²) strength and conditioning, banquet rooms, sport memorabilia, and an academic enhancement center building was named for Pete and Lynn Murphy of Rose Hill, North Carolina.^[6]

2009-2010 expansion

The next expansion began in December 2009. The expansion included removing the scoreboard located in the east end zone. Seven thousand seats were built in its place. The seats connect the north and south sides in a horseshoe pattern. Those seats increased the capacity to 50,000. Restroom and concession stands were built under the new section. Above the east end zone, a new scoreboard was built. The high-definition scoreboard is 88 feet (27 m) wide and a little over 28 feet (8.5 m) tall. The LED portion is 84 feet (26 m) wide.^[4] This makes the new scoreboard the 22nd largest scoreboard in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. On the north and south sides of the stadium, 10,200 chair-back seats were installed. Lastly, another scoreboard was built on the west end zone in front of the Murphy Center.^[4] The total cost of the expansion was $20 million.^[7]

Future expansion

East Carolina has received permission from the North Carolina General Assembly to plan a new pressbox and upper deck on the south side of the stadium. This expansion will increase seating to 58,000.^[8]

Marshall University plane crash

On November 14, 1970, the visiting Marshall University Thundering Herd lost a game 17-14 to the Pirates at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium, which ended with Marshall quarterback Ted Shoebridge controversially being called for intentional grounding on the last play of the game. Later that evening, while on approach to Huntington Tri-State Airport, the Marshall football team's plane, which had been chartered to transport the Thundering Herd to and from Greenville, crashed, killing all seventy-five people on board.

On December 11, 2006, a plaque was erected at the visitors' entrance to Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. It depicts the memorial fountain on the Marshall University campus.

Attendance

List of average attendance

Year	Total attendance	Average attendance	Rank	Reference
2010	297,987	49,665	44	[9]
2009	292,191	41,742	57	[10]
2008	210,080	42,016	56	[11]
2007	249,219	41,537	56	[12]
2006	223,006	37,168	63	[13]
2005	165,230	33,046	70	[14]
2004	153,418	30,684	71	[15]
2003	198,073	33,012	68	[16]
2002	148,144	29,629	67	[17]
2001	186,875	37,375	58	[18]
2000	217,742	36,290	61	[19]
1999	294,255	42,036	49	[20]
1998	158,716	31,743	64	[21]
1997	164,375	32,875	-	[22]
1996	146,324	29,265	-
1995	151,889	30,378	-
1994	159,805	31,961	-
1993	134,482	26,896	-
1992	164,068	32,814	-
1991	160,108	32,022	-
1990	143,285	28,657	-

Top fifteen attended games

^[23]

	Attendance	Opponent	Date	Score
1	50,410	NC State	October 16, 2010	W, 33-27OT
2	50,191	Navy	November 6, 2010	L, 35-76
3	50,145	Marshall	October 23, 2010	W, 37-10
4	50,092†	NC State	November 20, 1999	W, 23-6
5	50,023	UAB	September 24, 2011	W, 28-23
6	50,010	Tulsa	September 5, 2010	W, 51-49
7	49,400	Virginia Tech	September 10, 2011	L, 10-17
8	49,108	SMU	November 26, 2010	L, 38-45OT
9	48,123	Memphis	September 11, 2010	W, 49-27
10	45,123	Virginia Tech	September 7, 2000	L, 28-45
11	44,040†	North Carolina	October 11, 2003	L, 17-28
12	43,641	Houston	September 27, 2008	L, 24-41
13	43,610	West Virginia	September 6, 2008	W, 24-3
14	43,569	Virginia Tech	November 5, 2009	L, 3-16
15	43,527	NC State	October 20, 2007	L, 20-34
† - Indicates that temporary bleachers were used.

Photographs of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

• 

  Exterior

• 

  Home Side

• 

  Visitor Side

• 

  During the 1999 North Carolina State game

References

1. ^ "Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium". East Carolina Official Athletic Site. East Carolina University. 2008. http://ecupirates.cstv.com/facilities/ecu-facilities-dowdy.html. Retrieved 2009-02-10. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium". Facilities. East Carolina Pirates. 2010. http://www.ecupirates.com/facilities/ecu-facilities-dowdy.html. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium". Building Histories. Joyner Library. October 1, 2008. http://media.lib.ecu.edu/archives/bldg_history.cfm?id=49. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Growing Season - Football Stadium Expansion". Web Features. East Carolina University. June 2, 2010. http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/mktg/stadium_expansion.cfm. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
5. ^ "Minges Coliseum/Williams Arena". Building Histories. Joyner Library. October 1, 2008. http://media.lib.ecu.edu/archives/bldg_history.cfm?id=99. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
6. ^ "Murphy Center". Facilities. East Carolina Pirates. 2010. http://www.ecupirates.com/facilities/ecu-facilities-murphy.html. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
7. ^ Gibson, Todd (August 3, 2010). "ECU Set To Unveil $20M Stadium Expansion". NBC17. http://news.mync.com/site/news/story/54020/sports-ecu-set-to-unveil-20m-stadium-expansion/. Retrieved August 3, 2010. 
8. ^ Holland, Terry (2011). "2011 Pirate Football Season Ticket Information". CBS Sports Network. East Carolina University. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ecu/genrel/auto_pdf/ordering-guide.pdf. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
9. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2010/Internet/attendance/FBS_AVGATTENDANCE.pdf
10. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/attendance/FBS_AVGATTENDANCE.pdf
11. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/Attendance/2008.pdf
12. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/2007/Internet/attendance/IA_AVGATTENDANCE.pdf
13. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/Attendance/2006.pdf
14. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/Attendance/2005.pdf
15. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/DI/2005/2005RB.pdf
16. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/football_records/Attendance/2003.pdf
17. ^ http://www.bonesville.net/Articles/OtherArticles/Bonesville/072903_Hamrick-UNLV.htm
18. ^ http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/stats/football/attendance/2001/ia_attendance.html
19. ^ http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/stats/football/attendance/2000/ia_attendance.html
20. ^ http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/stats/football/attendance/1999/1999_1-a.html
21. ^ http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/stats/football/attendance/1998/1998iaattendance.html
22. ^ http://www.pageturnpro.com/Provations-Group/7902-2009-ECU-Football-Guide/index.html#194
23. ^ "Top Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Crowds". East Carolina University. http://www.guide.provations.com/eastcarolina/ec2010#pg19. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 

External links

• Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium from ECU Pirates.com

Preceded by College Stadium

Home of the East Carolina Pirates 1963 – present

Succeeded by current