Zable Stadium

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Walter J. Zable Stadium at Cary Field
nickname =


location = Williamsburg, VA
broke_ground =
opened = 1935
closed =
demolished =
owner = College of William & Mary
operator = College of William & Mary
surface = FieldTurf Pro
construction_cost = $138,395 (1935)
(relative CPI value in 2007: $2,089,956)
architect =
former_names =
tenants = William & Mary Tribe Football and Track & Field
seating_capacity = Official: 12,259
Record (Official): 18,054 (1985)
Record (Unofficial): 19,000+ (1949)

Walter J. Zable Stadium at Cary Field, named for Walter J. Zable, former member of the College of William & Mary Board of Visitors, is located in Williamsburg, Virginia and is the home of the College of William and Mary Tribe football team. It is located centrally in the William & Mary campus, adjoining the Sadler Center (formerly the University Center) building and situated on Richmond Road. The stadium is used for football and track & field. It and has an official capacity of 12,259 fans. The attendance figures for William and Mary football games are usually inexact, however, since students are not counted among the official results in an accurate fashion.

History

The Stadium at Cary Field was constructed in 1935 at a cost of $138,395 under a grant from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Public Works Administration. The namesakes of the stadium are Walter and Betty Zable, who made a $10 million contribution to William & Mary in 1990, adding the Zable moniker to the existing Cary Field. The construction of the stadium is distinct in that the primary entrance to the stadium is at the 50 yard line on one side, eliminating prime midfield seating locations. In order to secure the stadium, college officials had it designed for agriculture expositions with a cattle entrance at midfield. No expositions, however, were ever held, but the midfield seats remained lost.

The first football game played at Zable was the 1935 season opener, a 0-0 tie against the University of Virginia. Through 2006, the College has a record of 188-104-6 at home in Zable Stadium.

Recent developments

The largest crowd in Zable Stadium history was more than 19,000 in the 1949 loss against the University of North Carolina. Zable did not feature permanent lighting for evening games until 2005, when gifts of $650,000 allowed the construction of lights over the stadium. The gifts were spurred by the 2004 NCAA Division I-AA playoff game that William & Mary hosted against James Madison University. The game was nationally televised by ESPN2, and portable lights were brought in on trucks to allow the game to be played in ESPN's evening time slot. The game featured the largest crowd in recent Zable history and created a demand for additional night games. Previously, displeasure from the Williamsburg community over night games had kept the demand for lights to a minimum.

In 2006, Cary Field's natural grass surface was replaced with FieldTurf pro, the same turf used in over 20 NFL football stadiums. The project cost an estimated $840,000.

A new scoreboard was recently installed at Zable Stadium at an estimated cost of $800,000. The scoreboard is 53’-3” wide x 27’-5” high and features video replay capabilities.

References

* [http://www.tribeathletics.com/story.php/1342/ Tribe Athletics]