Memorial Stadium, also known as the "Brick House", was an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located on the campus of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. It was the home of the

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its incept ...

team for 58 seasons, from 1924 through

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

. Prior to 1924, the Gophers played at Northrop Field. Starting in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, the Gophers played their home games in the new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, and Memorial Stadium was demolished a decade later. After 27 seasons indoors, the Gophers returned to campus in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

at the new Huntington Bank Stadium, a block from the site of Memorial Stadium.

History

Opened on October 14, 1924, the stadium was dedicated to the 3,527 students, graduates, and workers who served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, which had ended six years earlier. It sat on approximately . While Memorial Stadium was its home, the football team won six national championships, including three consecutive (1934–1936). The championship years were

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

, and 1960. The official capacity of the stadium during the 1970s was listed as 56,652. From the 1940s onward, temporary bleachers were occasionally brought in to boost capacity to approximately 66,000, though many of the seats were far away from the field. The stadium's attendance record was 66,284, set in 1961 against Purdue on November 18. Memorial Stadium also served as the university's track and field venue, and was an occasional back-up venue for professional football and soccer. In 1969, the NFL's

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

played a regular season game on October 5 against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

at Memorial Stadium. It was due to a conflict with a

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

playoff game at

Metropolitan Stadium Metropolitan Stadium (often referred to as "the Met", "Met Stadium", or now "the Old Met" to distinguish from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Metrodome) was an outdoor sports stadium in the West North Central states, north central United State ...

, game three of the 1969 American League Championship Series the following day. The Vikings also played a pre-season game at Memorial in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, its second season with

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

. The artificial Tartan Turf was removed after seven seasons and returned to natural grass in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

. The

Minnesota Kicks The Minnesota Kicks was a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League (1968–84), No ...

soccer team of the NASL played once at Memorial Stadium, a 1981 playoff game on September 6 against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and lost 3–0. The game was moved due to a schedule conflict with the

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

at Met Stadium. It was the last game in Kicks' history. Ancel Keys founded the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene underneath Memorial Stadium, on the ground floor accessed at Gate 27. Here thirty-six

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s were confined during the yearlong Minnesota Starvation Experiment. Memorial Stadium served as the anchor for Stadium Village, a small commercial area at the southeast portion of the Twin Cities campus.

Move to Metrodome 1982

Pressured by downtown Minneapolis business interests and athletic boosters, the school elected to move out of the stadium to the new Metrodome, about away, during the spring of 1982. Athletic director Paul Giel cited the advantages of recruiting by playing in a new NFL venue. Also, the attendance was expected to go up in the late fall with protection from harsh weather.Brackin, Dennis - emorial Stadium: An unfair end? Star Tribune, September 2, 2009 Memorial Stadium had been neglected by that time, and was badly in need of renovation. New head coach Lou Holtz gave an impassioned speech when the time came in 1984 to decide whether to remain at the Metrodome, and declared that "Athletes want to play at the Dome."

University Aquatic center

Following the move, the University of Minnesota proposed a new natatorium that would extend into the field at the open end of the horseshoe and ensure that there could be no return to Memorial Stadium. After legal challenges to halt construction of the natatorium failed, the Aquatic Center opened in 1990 and the stadium was torn down two years later. The original brick entrance arch was preserved, and when the McNamara Alumni Center was built on the same site it was installed in the interior atrium over the entrance to a small museum.

Aftermath

The move to the Metrodome proved to be a dismal failure in the long run, as Gophers home games lost the charm of being on a college campus. The Gophers had the lowest priority in scheduling, behind the Twins and Vikings, and had to move games if the Twins were in the baseball playoffs. The university also gave up most concession and parking revenue, although their portion of the rent was the lowest of the three Metrodome tenants. On May 20, 2006, the state legislature passed a bill providing funding for a new on-campus stadium. It opened in the fall of 2009 as TCF Bank Stadium. The original Memorial Stadium site could not be used, due to the construction of the aquatic and alumni centers. The new stadium is located about a block from where the old stadium once stood and was designed so that the alumni center on the old site is visible through the open end of the horseshoe. Memorial Stadium inscription

Attendance

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! style=";", Year !! style=";", Total !! style=";", Games !! style=";", Season highest !! style=";", Average , - , 1924, , 139,772 , , 6 , , Illinois (35,341) , , 23,297 , - , 1925, , 193,707, , 7 , , Notre Dame (49,009), , 27,672 , - , 1926, , 156,032, , 5, , Michigan (58,362), , 31,206 , - , 1927, , 166,848, , 5, , Wisconsin (48,443), , 23,126 , - , 1928 , , 146,185 , , 5, , Chicago (53,016), , 29,237 , - , 1929, , 204,083, , 6, , Michigan (58,160), , 34,014 , - , 1930, , 167,728, , 6, , Northwestern (50,225), , 27,955 , - , , 1931, , 115,631, , 5, , Wisconsin (48,443), , 23,126 , - , 1932, , 113,956, , 5, , Northwestern (52,426), , 43,557 , - , 1933, , 164,301, , 6, , Iowa (41,177), , 27,384 , - , 1934 , , 192,922, , 5 , , Michigan (59,362), , 38,584 , - , 1935, , 217,785, , 5, , Northwestern (52,426), , 43,557 , - , 1936, , 247,653, , 5, , Iowa (61,172), , 49,531 , - , 1937, , 254,188, , 5, , Notre Dame (63,237), , 50,838 , - , 1938, , 237,000, , 5, , Michigan (54,212), , 47,400 , - , 1939, , 229,954, , 5, , Northwestern (52,372), , 45,991 , - , 1940, , 234,990, , 5 , , Michigan (61,976), , 46,998 , - , 1941, , 239,227, , 5, , Northwestern (61,784), , 47,845 , - , 1942, , 231,307, , 6, , Michigan (52,351), , 38,551 , - , 1943, , 182,779, , 7, , Purdue (38,709), , 26,111 , - , 1944, , 179,979, , 6 , , Northwestern (39,997), , 29,997 , - , 1945, , 246,931, , 6, , Ohio State (55,789), , 41,155 , - , 1946, , 328,003, , 6, , Michigan (59,037), , 54,667 , - , 1947, , 289,612, , 5, , Purdue (61,087), , 57,922 , - , 1948, , 308,556, , 5, , Purdue (65,549), , 61,711 , - , 1949, , 305,200 , , 5, , Wisconsin (63,139), , 61,040 , - , 1950 , , 267,015 , , 5 , , Iowa (60,312) , , 53,403 , - , 1951, , 224,759, , 5, , Nebraska (54,573), , 45,152 , - , 1952, , 270,292, , 5, , Iowa (60,376), , 54,058 , - , 1953, , 293,313, , 5, , Michigan (62,795), , 58,663 , - , 1954, , 347,555, , 6, , Iowa (65,464), , 57,926 , - , 1955, , 305,581, , 5, , USC (64,074), , 61,116 , - , 1956, , 372,654, , 6, , Iowa (64,235), , 62,109 , - , 1957, , 314,769, , 5 , , Purdue (64,629) , , 62,954 , - , 1958, , 282,230 , , 5 , , Iowa (63,726), , 56,446 , - , 1959, , 256,039, , 5 , , Michigan (56,082), , 51,208 , - , 1960, , 342,199, , 6 , , Iowa (65,292), , 57,033 , - , 1961, , 361,929, , 6 , , Purdue (66,284) , , 60,322 , - , 1962, , 368,200, , 6 , , Iowa (65,061), , 61,367 , - , 1963, , 286,797, , 5, , Michigan (61,817), , 57,759 , - , 1964, , 268,908, , 5, , Iowa (62,514), , 53,782 , - , 1965, , 302,747, , 6, , Michigan (58,519), , 50,458 , - , 1966, , 248,248, , 5, , Iowa (62,631), , 49,600 , - , 1967, , 237,798, , 6 , , Michigan State (56,334), , 39,633 , - , 1968, , 312,806, , 6 , , USC (60,820), , 52,134 , - , 1969, , 272,449, , 6 , , Ohio State (52,972), , 45,417 , - , 1970, , 225,468, , 5, , Nebraska (52,539), , 45,093 , - , 1971, , 207,662, , 6 , , Michigan (44,412), , 34,610 , - , 1972, , 222,079, , 6, , Iowa (44,196), , 37,013 , - , 1973, , 252,917, , 6, , Nebraska (56,782), , 42,153 , - , 1974, , 226,127 , , 6 , , Ohio State (45,411), , 37,688 , - , 1975, , 220,081 , , 7 , , Wisconsin (37,578), , 31,440 , - , 1976, , 262,878, , 6, , Iowa (53,222), , 43,813 , - , 1977, , 247,118, , 7 , , Michigan (44,165), , 35,303 , - , 1978, , 231,411, , 6, , Ohio State (52,209), , 38,569 , - , 1979, , 241,952, , 6, , Purdue (47,281), , 40,325 , - , 1980 , , 265,105, , 6, , Iowa (58,158), , 44,184 , - , 1981, , 301,248, , 7 , , Michigan (52,875) , , 43,035

References

*
University of Minnesota 2006 Football Media Guide - Records

External links

Memorial Stadium
at the

.
Memorial Stadium
at the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Educational institution, educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the Minnesota Terr ...

. {{University of Minnesota campus 1924 establishments in Minnesota 1981 disestablishments in Minnesota American football venues in Minnesota Defunct college football venues Defunct NFL venues Demolished sports venues in Minnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers football venues Sports venues completed in 1924 Sports venues demolished in 1992 Sports venues in Minneapolis