Crump Stadium

Last updated

Crump Stadium is a sports stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1934 and significantly downsized in 2006. [1] It was built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project with a capacity of 7,500. In 1939 it was enlarged to hold 25,000 spectators. In 1948 and 1949 it staged the Delta Bowl, a college football bowl game. In 1947 the Arkansas–Texas football game was played there. The annual Ole Miss–Tennessee game was also held there in the 1960s. Memphis State University (now University of Memphis) home football games were played there until the completion of Memphis Memorial Stadium (now Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) in 1965. The stadium was named for the late Memphis political boss E. H. Crump. It is now home to Central High School.

Contents

History

The need for a large stadium in Memphis was first proposed by Clarence Saunders, founder of Piggly Wiggly and owner of the Clarence Saunders Tigers, a semi-professional football team. After success against other established teams, it was thought that Memphis would join the fledgling National Football League, but the Great Depression wiped out Saunders, and Memphis missed out on professional football for the first time. In early 1932, plans for a large concrete stadium with a capacity of 25,000 persons was presented to the Mid-South Fair Association with the promise that if it were built, efforts would be made to land "big-time events of the tennis world". On July 17, 1932, the Memphis Park Commission gave tentative approval for a 25,000-seat stadium to be created at the Fairgrounds. Funds for the stadium were to be raised from the public through a "Buy a Barrel of Cement" project. However, that project was shelved in favor of a new field at Central High School. On August 20, 1932, plans for a new stadium for the City of Memphis were drawn up and approved by the city managers. Funding for this Depression-era project was achieved when, on December 16, 1933, a 3-acre (12,000 m2) athletic field was approved by state and federal Civil Works Authority and construction was completed in 1934. The stadium's original configuration was 7,000 seat capacity on wood bleachers 15 rows high with space for another 4,000 on temporary seating. The stadium was under the control of the City Board of Education, but was available to all levels of teams, from high school to professional

On February 27, 1934, the school board voted to name the new stadium for congressman and former mayor E. H. Crump. Mr. Crump accepted the honor saying he was "pleased" but felt such honors were best served posthumously. The next day, final approval of $35,000 was granted by the Civil Works Authority and work on the project began. By August 1934, the scope of the project had been increased to include a cinder running track and lighting consisting of six 80' towers each holding eight 1000-watt lamps, enabling night football to be played. From the outset, day-night double headers were the norm at the stadium. Despite this type scheduling, the first year of operation ran a deficit, with maintenance and operating costs running from $2,100 to $2,200 and gate receipts and concessions totaling only $951.

After a 1936 game between Mississippi and Tennessee drew a record crowd of 11,000, the city decided that it should aggressively market itself as "neutral ground" to the regional teams and promote bringing big games to Memphis. The decision was made to remove the wooden bleachers on the south side of the field, replace them with concrete 46 rows high and increase capacity to 15,000. Control of the facility was transferred to the Park Commission on August 25, 1936, and $100,000 was allocated for the project. A news release from the WPA stated "California has its "Rose Bowl", Louisiana has its "Sugar Bowl" and now Memphis...is to have its "Cotton Bowl." The WPA provided $90,050 and the City of Memphis chipped in another $44,305. City engineer Will Fowler was placed in charge of the project and stated at the time that he envisioned further expansion by creating a bowl which would seat 30,000. Fowler would play an aggressive role in frequent upgrades to the facility over time. 1936 also saw the first intercollegiate football game featuring a Memphis team, Southwestern (now Rhodes College), which at the time was acknowledged to be on the threshold of the "big time". There were 40 games played at Crump Stadium that season

At the same time Crump Stadium was being expanded, it was decided to create a new field at the fairgrounds. Funds were acquired from the WPA for this new lighted field which Mayor Watkins Overton said would help take pressure off Crump Stadium by giving events with smaller attendance a new venue. The wood bleachers from the south side of Crump Stadium were relocated to the fairgrounds and installed. That field was located in the area now paved as parking between Libertyland and the Mid-South Coliseum. State Teachers College and Southwestern shared this field beginning in 1937 with high school and junior high teams. Both State Teachers and Southwestern had been playing at Hodges Field. In 1937, Southwestern moved five games to Crump Stadium, and State Teachers played two. Both squads played three games at the new fairgrounds facility. The first game played in Crump Stadium by State Teachers was against Tennessee Tech in November 1937. The Teachers would spend the next 27 years at Crump Stadium.

New dressing rooms were constructed under the south stands in 1938. To reach the dressing rooms, teams had to go down steps leading to a tunnel underneath the cinder track and box seats to a second set of stairs which led back up to the entrance passage of the building where the teams turned left or right respectively. 1939 saw more expansion and renovation as the north side wooden bleachers were demolished and concrete stands were erected. The new north stands held just under 10,000 people and cost $186,000. The north stands were 42 rows high as opposed to the south stands which were 46 rows high. In 1940 a 600-seat section was added in the southwest corner along with a new separate entrance and toilet facilities for blacks, allowing those citizens access to the stadium for the first time. Capacity was increased to just over 25,000 and the city was able to attract marquee match-ups from throughout the region. Match-ups between Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Arkansas were frequent with even a Texas-Arkansas game played at Crump Stadium.

Crump Stadium would remain in essentially that configuration until 1960, when the City Commission recommended expanding the stadium again. This met with much controversy and opposition from the school board, which needed the land the stadium sat on for expansion of Central High School and to meet open space requirements. In November 1962, the City Commission approved spending of $1.4 million to increase capacity to over 45,000 and a contract was awarded. But less than a year later, the project was halted in favor of a new stadium at the fairgrounds. After Memphis Memorial Stadium was built, control of the facility was transferred back to the Memphis City Schools.

Closing, demolition and refurbishment

The Memphis school district closed Crump Stadium to competition after the 2004 high school football season. In the summer of 2006 the stadium underwent demolition and was replaced with a stadium more appropriately sized for high school football complete with a new track and other track and field amenities. The outer brick wall, original gates and entrances were retained and the name remains "Crump Stadium." High school sporting competitions resumed in the fall of 2007, including high school football regular season and playoff games.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis Mad Dogs</span> Canadian Football League team

The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. They played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camping World Stadium</span> Stadium in Florida, U.S.

Camping World Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Orlando, Florida, United States located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Kia Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and Inter&Co Stadium. It opened in 1936 as Orlando Stadium and has also been known as the Tangerine Bowl and Florida Citrus Bowl. The City of Orlando owns and operates the stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium</span> Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The stadium is the site of the annual Liberty Bowl, the annual Southern Heritage Classic, and is the home field of the University of Memphis Tigers football team of the American Athletic Conference. It has also been the host of several attempts at professional sports in the city, as well as other local football games and other gatherings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legion Field</span> Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CEFCU Stadium</span> Stadium at San Jose State University

CEFCU ('sef-kyü) Stadium, formerly known as Spartan Stadium, is an outdoor athletic stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in the Spartan Keyes neighborhood of central San Jose, California. Owned by San José State University, the venue is the longtime home of Spartan football; it also hosts the university's commencement ceremony on Memorial Day weekend, and occasional high school football games. Known as Spartan Stadium for over eight decades, it was renamed in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cramton Bowl</span> American stadium

Cramton Bowl is a 25,000-seat stadium located in Montgomery, Alabama. Cramton Bowl opened in 1922 as a baseball stadium and has been home to Major League Baseball spring training and to minor league baseball. Today, however, its primary use is for American football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Stadium (Green Bay)</span> American football stadium in Wisconsin, US

City Stadium is an American football stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the north side of the Green Bay East High School property. It was the home of the Green Bay Packers of the NFL from 1925 through 1956. Renovated and downsized, City Stadium remains the home to the adjacent Green Bay East High School athletic teams. Prior to 1925, the Packers played home games at nearby Hagemeister Park and Bellevue Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FirstBank Stadium</span> Stadium located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States

FirstBank Stadium is a football stadium located in Nashville, Tennessee. Completed in 1922 as the first stadium in the South to be used exclusively for college football, it is the home of the Vanderbilt University football team. When the venue was known as Vanderbilt Stadium, it hosted the Tennessee Oilers during the 1998 NFL season and the first Music City Bowl in 1998 and also hosted the Tennessee state high school football championships for many years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan-Hare Stadium</span> Stadium in Auburn, AL, US

Jordan-Hare Stadium is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadium is named for Ralph "Shug" Jordan, who owns the most wins in school history, and Cliff Hare, a member of Auburn's first football team as well as Dean of the Auburn University School of Chemistry and President of the Southern Conference. On November 19, 2005, the playing field at the stadium was named in honor of former Auburn coach and athletic director Pat Dye. The venue is now known as Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The stadium reached its current seating capacity of 88,043 with the 2023 expansion and is the 10th largest stadium in the NCAA and the 20th largest in the world. For years, it has been a fixture on lists of best gameday atmospheres and most intimidating places to play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium</span> University of Kansas football stadium in Lawrence Kansas

David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is a football stadium located in Lawrence, Kansas, on the campus of the University of Kansas. The stadium was opened in 1921, and is the seventh oldest college football stadium in the country, and is widely recognized as the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Nicknamed "The Booth", the stadium is dedicated as a memorial to Kansas students who died in World War I, and is one of seven major veterans' memorials on the campus. The stadium is at the center of all seven war memorials—adjacent to the stadium, further up the hill is a Korean War memorial honoring Kansas students who served, just a few hundred feet south of the stadium stands the University of Kansas World War II Memorial, the Kansas Memorial Campanile and Carillon, the University of Kansas Vietnam War Memorial sits adjacent to the Campanile to the west, the Victory Eagle – World War I statue located on Jayhawk Boulevard, southeast of the stadium, and the Kansas Memorial Union, a veterans' memorial that also houses the main university student union and bookstore, located east of the stadium. The stadium is the home stadium of the Kansas Jayhawks football team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona Stadium</span> Outdoor college football stadium in Tucson, Arizona

Arizona Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the southwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is the home field of the Arizona Wildcats of the Pac-12 Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centennial Bank Stadium</span>

Centennial Bank Stadium is a football stadium located in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on the campus of Arkansas State University that is home to the Arkansas State Red Wolves football team. The stadium opened in 1974 as Indian Stadium named after the old nickname of the school, the Indians, until the 2007 season when it was renamed ASU Stadium. The venue was renamed Liberty Bank Stadium in September 2012 after Liberty Bank of Arkansas donated approximately $5 million to the university. In 2013, Liberty Bank was bought by Home BancShares, whose trade name is Centennial Bank. Since 2015, the stadium has a seating capacity of 30,406.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaught–Hemingway Stadium</span> Outdoor athletic stadium located in University, Mississippi

Vaught–Hemingway Stadium at Hollingsworth Field is an outdoor athletic stadium located in University, Mississippi, United States. The stadium serves as the home for the University of Mississippi Rebels college football team. The stadium is named after Johnny Vaught and Judge William Hemingway. Since its expansion in 2016, it is the largest stadium in the state of Mississippi with a capacity of 64,038 and also holds the state record for attendance at 66,703.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cessna Stadium</span>

Cessna Stadium is a closed stadium on the campus of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It opened in 1946 and served as the home of the Wichita State Shockers track and field team until 2020 and the football team until the program was discontinued in 1986. The Kansas Board of Regents approved demolition of the stadium in April 2020. Demolition of the stadium began in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Municipal Stadium</span> United States historic place

Bristol Municipal Stadium, also referred to as the Stone Castle, is an athletic facility located on the campus of Bristol Tennessee High School in Bristol, Tennessee. The structure features a design that is reminiscent of Medieval Gothic architecture and has a seating capacity of approximately 8,000. The stadium currently serves as the home field of the football team of Tennessee High School. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Russwood Park was a stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. It was primarily used for baseball and was the home of the Memphis Chicks minor league baseball team until the spring of 1960. The ballpark was originally built in 1896 and was known as Elm Wood Park or Red Elm Park. In 1915, team owner Russell E. Garner incorporated his name into the ballpark's name. The "wood" part of the name would figure into its demise.

Newark Schools Stadium is the name of two stadiums that were both located on Bloomfield Avenue between Abington and Roseville Avenues in the Roseville section of Newark, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamtramck Stadium</span> United States historic place

Hamtramck Stadium, also known as Roesink Stadium is one of only 12 remaining Negro league baseball stadiums. It is located at 3201 Dan Street, in Veterans Park, in Hamtramck, Michigan. The stadium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The stadium is located near, and occasionally confused with, Keyworth Stadium. The stadium was rededicated on June 20, 2022, as part of the Juneteenth celebration. In 2020, the stadium's field was renamed Norman "Turkey" Stearnes Field, after Detroit Stars player Turkey Stearnes.

The 1943 Southwestern Louisiana Bulldogs football team was an American football team that represented the Southwestern Louisiana Institute of Liberal and Technical Learning as a member the Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference during the 1943 college football season. The Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference has no league play in 1943 because of World War II. Led by second-year head coach Louis Whitman, the Bulldogs compiled a record of 5–0–1, and outscored their opponents 172 to 40. In the Oil Bowl, Southwestern Louisiana defeated Arkansas A&M on a muddy field, a team that had tied them 20–20 earlier in the season. The Bulldogs played their home games at McNaspy Stadium in Lafayette, Louisiana.

References

  1. ↑ Whitworth, Kent. "Historic Stadiums". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Tennessee Historical Society. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

35°08′02″N90°01′06″W / 35.133913°N 90.01826°W / 35.133913; -90.01826

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.