Dee Stadium

Coordinates: 47°7′22.46″N 88°33′53.91″W / 47.1229056°N 88.564975°W / 47.1229056; -88.564975

Dee Stadium is an arena for the playing of ice hockey, located in Houghton, Michigan; it replaces, and is on the same site as, the Amphidrome, which burned down in 1927. The stadium was the former home of the Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team, before the team moved to the John Macinnes Student Ice Arena, which later became part of the Student Development Complex. (However, it continues to be a venue in Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival and the annual Parade of Nations festival.) It is the current home of the Houghton High School Gremlins hockey team as well as the very first professional hockey team the Portage Lake Pioneers who play for the Gibson cup every year, a cup that is as old as the Stanley cup itself.

Although it is the Amphidrome and not Dee stadium that holds the historic marker for the birth place of professional hockey in the United States in 1904, Dee stadium still includes a museum on the history of ice hockey in Houghton and the surrounding area starting from the very beginning in place of the lost Amphidrome.

Upstairs at the Dee Stadium is the Level II skatepark. The park was originally build in 2000 and rebuilt in 2005. Besides having various ramps for skateboarding and biking they also have a stage and host concerts.

History

In May of 1983, the City of Houghton eliminated Dee Stadium from their annual budget due to financial reasons and the recent vandalism at Dee Stadium.^[1] The Copper Country Junior Hockey Association (CCJHA) was blamed for the vandalism. The City of Houghton told the Daily Mining Gazette that the young hockey players were the reason the Dee is falling apart and that the City is not at fault for the condition of the Dee. With the City threatening to close Dee stadium, 468 adults and 423 students signed a petition to keep the Dee open for use. The Houghton High School Hockey coach at the time Don Miller said, ”By having to move to either Houghton County Arena or the Student Ice Arena, a severe scheduling problem would arise…especially the Houghton High School Hockey Team.” All kinds of community groups got involved with the Dee petition. The Houghton-Portage Teachers Education Association expressed their interest in the situation by stating, “the teachers feel strongly about Dee Stadium and the purpose that it serves. For the next five years, there were fundraising efforts to save Dee Stadium from being closed". These fundraisers also provided Dee Stadium with the proper improvements that it needed.^[2] At each of these annual fund raising dinners, there was 200 tickets sold at $100 at ticket, which gained an $8,000 profit per year. The goal with this money was to put new siding on all four sides of the building and also to put in new insulation to make the ballroom available to use all year around.^[3]

References

1. ^ Goffin, Jim ”City ready to write off Dee Stadium.” Daily Mining Gazette,4/07/1983. CCVF: building- Amphidrome. MTU Archives & CCHC.
2. ^ Goffin, Jim ”Council Views petitions and letters urging continued use of Dee Stadium.” Daily Mining Gazette, 4/23/1983. CCVF: building- Amphidrome. MTU Archives & CCHC.
3. ^ Lajeunesse, Tom ”Dee Stadium June 8.” Daily Mining Gazette, 5/19/1984. CCVF: building- Amphidrome. MTU Archives & CCHC.