Wallace Wade Stadium

Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium
Wallace Wade Stadium in 2018
Former names Duke Stadium (1929–1967)
Location Frank Bassett Drive
Durham, NC 27706
Coordinates 35°59′43″N 78°56′30″W / 35.99528°N 78.94167°W / 35.99528; -78.94167Coordinates: 35°59′43″N 78°56′30″W / 35.99528°N 78.94167°W / 35.99528; -78.94167
Owner Duke University
Capacity 40,004 (2016-Present)
33,941 (1982–2015)
40,078 (1978–1981)
44,000 (1942–1977)
35,000 (1929–1941)
Record attendance 57,500 (November 19, 1949)[1]
Surface Latitude 36 Bermuda Grass
Construction
Broke ground December 1928
Opened October 5, 1929
Renovated 2014-2017
Expanded 2016
Construction cost $4 million
($57 million in 2017 dollars[2])
Architect Horace Trumbauer[3]
Tenants
Duke Blue Devils football (1929–present)

Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium is a 40,004-seat stadium on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Primarily used for American football, it is the home field of the Duke Blue Devils. It opened in 1929 with a game against Pitt, as the first facility in Duke's new West Campus. Originally named Duke Stadium, it was renamed in 1967 for football coach Wallace Wade and has remained Wallace Wade Stadium ever since. The field was named Brooks Field at the beginning of the 2015 season after the removal of the track and lowering of the field level seats.

History

Duke Stadium (now Wallace Wade Stadium) in 1932.
Wallace Wade Stadium's all-time attendance record was set on November 18, 1939, in a game against the #7 UNC Tarheels. The 13-3 Duke win was seen by over 52,000 fans.[4] The record was subsequently broken three times—in 1942, 1947, and 1949.[1]

Wallace Wade Stadium opened in 1929 as "Duke Stadium".[5] The stadium was largely funded with bonds—the school advertised for "1,000 individuals to invest $100 in Duke's athletic future" and offered 6% interest.[6]

The stadium is notable for being the site of the 1942 Rose Bowl Game. Duke had won the invitation to the game as the eastern representative. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor, just weeks after the end of the 1941 season, led to fears of a Japanese attack on the West Coast. General John L. DeWitt, commander of the Western Defense Command, advised the Tournament of Roses Association not to hold the game at the Rose Bowl Stadium itself, since he was not willing to take a chance on the Japanese choosing to stage a bombing raid on a stadium with over 90,000 people in attendance. Soon afterward, the government banned all large public gatherings on the West Coast, which ruled out Bell Field on the campus of Oregon State, the host team from the PCC, as an alternative venue. The Tournament of Roses Association originally planned to cancel the game, but Duke officials invited the Rose Bowl and Oregon State to Durham to play the game. The offer was accepted, and on a cold, rainy January 1, 1942, 56,000 fans, 22,000 of whom sat on bleachers borrowed from nearby NC State and UNC, watched the heavily favored Blue Devils fall to the strong defense of the Beavers 20-16. It is still the only time the game has been played outside of Pasadena, California.

In 1967, Duke Stadium was renamed to Wallace Wade Stadium in honor of legendary Duke coach Wallace Wade.[5]

In 1972, Wallace Wade Stadium hosted the first edition of the Pelican Bowl, a short-lived attempt at a black college football national championship game between the winner of the MEAC and the winner of the SWAC. Grambling defeated NC Central by a score of 56-6 in front of 22,500 fans.[7] In October 2012, Duke announced major renovations projected to eventually seat 43,915.[8]

In 2015, Steve Brooks, Duke alumnus and CEO of the Phoenix American Insurance Group, donated $13 million to the Duke Athletics department and the field was renamed in his honor.[9]

Renovations

Blue Devil Tower opened in 2016 with 516 club seats and 21 suites.[10]
Wallace Wade Stadium in 2005, prior to the renovation of the west side press box.
Wallace Wade Stadium in 2015, with Blue Devil Tower under construction.

In September 2014, renovation plans were released. The new stadium would seat nearly 40,000 and have 21 luxury suites housed within a new five-story, 90,000 square foot tower along the stadium’s west side. A new 42 feet high by 75.6 feet wide LED video board would be installed 90 feet closer to the field than the previous one. Another notable feature was the removal of the stadium’s track, which allowed 4,000 additional seats to be added along with lowering and recentering the field. The concourses along the stadium’s north and west sides were enhanced with new concessions and new gates, restroom facilities and first aid stations. Integrated seating in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act were also added for disabled guests and their companions.[11] The first two phases of the renovations were finished over a two-year period, including the new press box, eight broadcast booths[12] and suites completed by the 2016 college football season.

Phase three was completed prior to the 2017 season. It included completion of ADA boxes currently in one-third of the concourse on the north and east concourse, rebuilding the concourse surface, and construction of a north gate ticket booth and various concessions, bathroom, and future store buildings on the east concourse. The alumni box on the north concourse was also be replaced with a new auxiliary scoreboard.[13]

Concerts

Date Artist Opening act(s) Tour / Concert name Attendance Revenue Notes
April 24, 1971The Grateful Dead————This concert was part of Joe College Weekend.[14]
October 8, 2005The Rolling StonesTrey AnastasioA Bigger Bang Tour——

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "History" (PDF). Duke Athletics. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Inventory of the Horace Trumbauer Architectural Drawings Collection, 1924 - 1958". Duke University. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  4. ↑ Stevens, Patrick (2015-11-05). "Most memorable Duke-North Carolina football games". The News & Observer.
  5. 1 2 "Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium". Duke Sports Information. November 29, 2005.
  6. ↑ "Wallace Wade Stadium: A New Football Stadium and the Opening of West Campus". Duke University Archives.
  7. ↑ Gaither, Steven (December 11, 2014). "The Lost Bowl Game: Black College Football's Championship Trial". Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  8. ↑ Patterson, Chip (October 1, 2012). "Duke Announces Major Renovations for 83-Year-Old Wallace Wade Stadium". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
  9. ↑ "Duke adds Brooks Field to stadium name after $13M donation". AP via USA Today. July 17, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Check Out an All-Access Tour of Blue Devil Tower". Duke Sports Information. 2016-09-29.
  11. ↑ Wiseman, Steve. "Duke football looks ahead to refurbished Wallace Wade". www.heraldsun.com. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
  12. ↑ "Duke Wallace Wade Stadium". Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  13. ↑ "Stadium Renovations Enhance Football Experience". duke.edu. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  14. ↑ "Wallace Wade Stadium - April 24, 1971 - Grateful Dead". www.dead.net. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
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