American Legion Memorial Stadium

American Legion Memorial Stadium is located in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

It is a 24,000 seat outdoor venue located near Charlotte's center city. The stadium hosts several sporting events such as local high school football games and is also a public venue.

The stadium was built in 1936 to honor soldiers who fell in World War I. It was built with federal aid money allocated to Charlotte.

Throughout the years the stadium has hosted events of every kind, ranging from Presidential addresses to classic Professional wrestling encounters featuring local hero Ric Flair. The stadium formerly hosted Charlotte (Central) High School. Now Independence High School occasionally uses the stadium for big football games against their rivals, such as the annual Butler vs. Independence game.

It is located on a complex with the Grady Cole Center. Both are located next to Central Piedmont Community College.

For the past few years the stadium has hosted several band competitions. It has hosted the battle of the Bands between the biggest HBCUs in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. It has also hosted DCI competitions hosted by Carolina Crown.

For several years (until the mid 1990's) the stadium annually hosted The Shrine Bowl which was a match-up of the top high school football players in North Carolina and South Carolina.

A potential future occupant may be the UNC Charlotte 49ers, when and if they choose to field an NCAA football team at the DI-AA level. The stadium would require significant renovation to serve the 49ers needs. The distance from the campus of some 8 miles would also be a problem, although the location next to the center city could be a potential advantage. Located next to Central Piedmont Community College (UNC Charlotte's original location) and in a heavily built up urban area, it can not be easily expanded. It might also serve as a temporary home while another facility was built. CPCC does not use the stadium for sporting events, CPCC's club soccer team uses a nearby park field.

External links

* [http://cmhpf.org/Surveys&rmemorialstadium.htm Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission: A.L. Memorial Stadium] - Includes photos and history.
* [http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&om=1&z=18&ll=35.218178,-80.828251&spn=0.003318,0.005032&t=h Memorial Stadium and Grady Cole Center at Google Maps]