Rogers Field was an outdoor athletic

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, on the campus of

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

Pullman, Washington Pullman () is the largest city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 29,799 at the 2010 census, and estimated to be 34,506 in 2019. Originally founded as Thr ...

. It was the home venue of the WSU Cougars football and track teams until severely damaged by a fire in April 1970. Partially demolished in early 1971, Rogers Field was replaced by the concrete Martin Stadium, which was built on the same site and opened in 1972.

History

Originally opened in 1892 for

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

and named "Soldier Field", it hosted its first football game in 1895, when WSU defeated its

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, prima ...

neighbor

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

10–4. In 1902, the stadium was renamed for Governor John Rogers, who died in office the previous December. In its early years, it also hosted Cougar baseball, with home plate in the southeast corner. The final structure was completely rebuilt in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

. The 23,500-seat wooden stadium had a horseshoe-shaped three-section grandstand, open on the west end, with a quarter-mile (402 m) running track. The press box sat at the top of the south sideline's grandstand, and the playing field was natural grass, at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. The field was unlit, but plans were in place to install

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...

for the 1970 season. The running track was cinder until replaced by an all-weather rubberized surface in early 1968. During what came to be its final WSU season in 1969, Rogers Field was also the home for the neighboring Idaho Vandals. Their Neale Stadium, also wooden, had been condemned during the summer of 1969 due to soil erosion and was to be rebuilt with

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

grandstands, ready in 1970 (or 1971). Idaho played its limited

home schedule in 1969 (3 games) at Rogers Field, and due to delays in their project had planned on playing there again in 1970 (4 games). During the ten-game schedules of the late 1960s, the WSU football team split its usual allotment of four home games equally between

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

and Pullman (two games each).

Fire

A suspicious fire in 1970 significantly damaged the south grandstand and press box of Rogers Field late on Saturday, April 4, the first day of spring break. A definitive cause of the blaze was not determined, but was widely believed to have been

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

. A track & field meet with Oregon State had been held at the stadium earlier in the day. Idaho's idle (and condemned) Neale Stadium had burned less than five months earlier in November 1969, also a suspected arson which burned its south grandstand and press box. The two-year-old all-weather track at Rogers was saved by students, mostly track athletes, who jumped the fence prior to the arrival of the fire department. The track sections nearest to the fire were watered down to keep them cool, and the highly-flammable foam landing pits (pole vault and high jump) were quickly moved to the grass infield. Prior to the fire, the WSU Cougars had planned to play three home games, all in the Pac-8, at Joe Albi Stadium in

in 1970, which was installing

that summer. The two scheduled for Pullman were

in mid-September and Oregon State in mid-November. Various sites were considered, including

Husky Stadium Husky Stadium (officially Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is an outdoor football stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. It h ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

and Civic Stadium in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, but WSU played all five games in Spokane. Despite another one-win season and low turnout for the USC and Oregon State games in November, WSU set a home attendance record in 1970. Requiring less seating capacity, Idaho opted to stay put on the Palouse in 1970 and played its four home games at the partially destroyed stadium in Pullman. The game between the teams, the so-called "Displaced Bowl", was easily won by WSU on September 19 in Spokane. It ended a ten-game losing streak for Jim Sweeney's Cougars, dating back to the 1969 season opener. As WSU's home opener, the game drew 27,200 spectators, at the time the largest for football in Spokane outside the Apple Cup. The victory over Idaho was the only one for WSU in 1970, as their next win came in the third game of the

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 ...

season. With the new stadium in Pullman under construction in 1971, the Cougars again played their full home schedule in Spokane, four games, but waited until the last one on October 30 to post a home victory. WSU defeated

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

, led by quarterback Dan Fouts and running back Bobby Moore (later Ahmad Rashad). The 31–21 win evened WSU's record to 4–4 and 2–2 in the Pac-8, with visions of a possible league title and Rose Bowl appearance. It followed a Cougar upset of defending Rose Bowl champion

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

by a point on the road; that was Stanford's only conference blemish in

, and they repeated as Rose Bowl champions. November was not as fortunate for WSU, which went winless on the road against USC, Oregon State, and Washington to finish at 4–7. Poor weather in the spring of

caused delays in the construction of Idaho's new stadium, and the Vandals played "home" games at Bronco Stadium in

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ...

and at Joe Albi in Spokane in September. After a three-year absence, the UI Vandals returned to campus in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

on October 9 at their new "Idaho Stadium", originally an outdoor venue with natural grass. The debut game was a Vandal victory over

Idaho State , mottoeng = " The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927) University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho Sta ...

, and Idaho won eight straight games and finished at 8–3, their best football record to date. Artificial turf was installed the next year, and the stadium was enclosed three years later in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, renamed the Kibbie Dome.

Martin Stadium

The new concrete football stadium opened on the site of Rogers Field in 1972. It had a modest seating capacity of 22,600, a running track, lights, and an

playing field. The first game in Martin Stadium was on September 30, a disappointing 19-point loss to the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

of the WAC, with 20,600 in attendance. Initially, only the south grandstand and press box were new in 1972; the old north grandstand was demolished after the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

season, and the east end zone seats from Rogers were finally replaced in 1999. Following the 1978 season, the running track was removed and the field level was lowered , allowing a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...

expansion with thirteen new rows of seats. The revamped Martin Stadium debuted in mid-October 1979, with an inspired victory over the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. The last Apple Cup in Spokane was played in 1980, but the Cougars continued to play several home games there through the 1983 season. The WSU academic calendar was changed from a delayed semester to the traditional semester schedule in 1984. With classes starting four weeks earlier in late August, WSU students were now on campus for the entire football season, and the Spokane games were eliminated. (Home games in

at CenturyLink Field were played from 2002 to

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

.) The name "Rogers Field" continues on campus, transferred to an area used for soccer practices and intramurals, adjacent to the west end of Martin Stadium.

History

Fire

Martin Stadium

References

External links