The Stadium Bowl (originally Tacoma Stadium) is a 15,000-seat stadium in the northwest United States, located in Tacoma, Washington. The stadium is located next to Stadium High School with views of Commencement Bay and the Puget Sound. It was designed by Frederick Heath.[1] The stadium plays host to the American football teams for both Silas High School and Stadium High School. The Stadium originally opened 112 years ago in 1910, and the adjacent high school would change its name to reference the Bowl.

A panorama of the stadium and adjacent high school, with Commencement Bay in the background (2008)

Stadium Bowl

August 2014
Former names	Tacoma Stadium
Location	Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates	47.267°N 122.449°W / 47.267; -122.449
Owner	Tacoma Public Schools
Capacity	15,000
Surface	FieldTurf
Construction
Opened	July 10, 1910 112 years ago
Architect	Frederick Heath
Tenants
Stadium High School

Tacoma

Location in the United States

Tacoma

Location in Washington

History

The stadium, designed by Frederick Heath, dates from 1910 and is in a location once known as Old Woman's Gulch. It was originally much grander than it is today, with a seating capacity of 32,000 compared to today's capacity of 15,000.

The stadium is on an asymmetrical block bounded by North E Street (south); Tacoma High School and North 1st Street (east); North 3rd Street and North Stadium Way (originally Cliff Avenue) (west); and North Schuster Parkway, railroad tracks and Commencement Bay (north).

The stadium was originally built in 1909–1910 using steam shovels and sluicing to move more than 180,000 cubic yards (140,000 m³) down the edges of the gulch to create a flat playing field of 2.5 acres (10,000 m²). Wooden molds were built to cast concrete for 31 rows of stadium seating surrounding the playfield.[2][3]

The original structure exceeded what the soil could support. A restoration project in the 1970s had to sacrifice roughly half of the seating capacity because of instability. This was followed by a further restoration allowing the stadium to reopen in 1985.

List of notable events

Stadium Bowl has hosted many memorable sporting events, concerts, and ceremonies including:

• Speeches held by United States Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Warren Harding and United States Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan
• Ceremonies and battle reenactments for military figures such as John Pershing and Marshal Foch
• Baseball exhibitions for players such as Babe Ruth and Billy Sunday
• The Washington State Cougars of Pullman played a football game against team from Camp Lewis at the stadium in 1917[4][5]
  • The Cougars also played Texas A&M in December 1941[6][7]
  • Washington State hosted Penn State on Thanksgiving weekend in 1948[8][9][10]
• Gasoline powered model airplane meetup in 1947[3]

Appearances in Media

Stadium bowl and the connected high school are well known for its unique and captivating design. This has led the bowl to make appearances in film, and is often highly ranked in lists that showcase high schools with the best architecture.

Most notably, Stadium high school was used as a filming location in the 1999 cult classic film, 10 Things I Hate About You. Renamed "Padua High School" in the movie, many scenes were filmed at the school. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie involves Heath Ledger's character serenading Julia Stiles' character while she is at soccer practice in the Stadium Bowl. While singing Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", Ledger would run up and down the iconic stairs of the Bowl, making for one of the most memorable in the film.

Stadium Bowl was chosen in 2008 as one of the best high school football stadiums in the U.S. by ESPN.[11]

Stadium Bowl was listed on MaxPreps as one of "10 high school football stadiums to see before you die".[12]

Sports Illustrated also listed Stadium as one of the 13 must see high school football stadiums in the United States.[13]

Flooding Problems

Unfortunately, the stadium has dealt with numerous flooding incidents throughout its history that has put it out of commission and required repair.

In 1981 a burst storm drain washed away the scoreboard and the north end zone of the football field.[2]

On October 10, 2015 Stadium bowl experienced a mass flooding due to improper drain management. Videos of the bowl flooding quickly went viral. The videos of the bowl flooding were so captivating that they were even featured on CNN.[14]

Despite having multiple drains in the streets above the stadium, the drains became too overwhelmed with water, causing the flooding. The water eroded soil under the stadium's main stairwell, soaked the field-turf with water, mud, and debris, flooded the locker rooms used by home and away teams, and also caused a small trench to form on the Northern side of the stadium.[15]

The flooding would cause all subsequent sporting events at the stadium to be postponed, canceled, or relocated to nearby fields or schools.[15] Officials decided to keep the stadium closed until the spring of 2016, and football games would not return until the following September.[16]

References

External links

• Venue information
• HistoryLink.org - Tacoma's Stadium Bowl opens on July 10, 1910
• Sanborn map showing the Stadium, 1912
• South Sound Talk - Stadium High School History Soars in Tacoma
• Max Preps - Stadium Bowl - slideshow
• Heath Ledger Stadium Bowl Scene from 10 Things I Hate About You
• Video of Stadium Bowl flood in 2015

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