Marquette Stadium 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 completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, that was opened in 1924. The stadium hosted

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

sports programs, including the Golden Avalanche football team and the university’s

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

team. It had a seating capacity of 24,000, which could be expanded to 30,000 with temporary bleachers. Marquette Stadium hosted the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

’s (NFL)

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 ...

for three games during the 1952 season. Starting in 1933, the Packers split their home games between

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

, and Milwaukee, using

Wisconsin State Fair Park The Wisconsin State Fair Park is a fairgrounds and exhibition center in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. It has been the location of the Wisconsin State Fair since 1892. The fairgrounds are open year-round, hosting various exp ...

until 1951.

Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953 Milwaukee Braves season, 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also ...

was not complete in time for the 1952 season, so the Packers played one season at Marquette Stadium. In 1960, Marquette discontinued its football program, citing financial challenges. The stadium continued to be used for collegiate athletic events, although the bleachers were demolished in 1976. In 1998, the land was sold to

Marquette University High School Marquette University High School (MUHS) is a private, all-male, Jesuit school located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement, an accreditation division of Co ...

, who then developed it into athletic fields called Quad Park. Quad Park hosts soccer and track and field, among other sports.

History

Construction

Demand for a stadium at

grew in the early 1920s. A student-led campaign to construct a stadium started by at least 1922 and was renewed in March 1923 after the purchase of eight acres of property at Milwaukee's circus grounds by alumni for $40,000 . The student campaign was tasked with raising $30,000 as their share of the purchase of the property. By January 1924, the purchase was finalized and Judge Michael S. Sheridan was identified to lead a campaign to raise funds for the construction of the stadium, which at the time was projected to have a capacity of 65,000. The groundbreaking for the stadium occurred in May 1924; seating capacity was reduced to a projected 50,000, although the initial concrete grandstand would only hold 20,000. This first section cost $175,000 and included the playing field, a practice field, seating, locker rooms, ticket booths, and other support facilities. At its completion, it was still expected to be expanded to a full build out of 50,000 seats.

College and high school use

The stadium was formally dedicated on October 18, 1924. Marquette hosted John Carroll College for a football game, with Marquette winning 10–3. The stadium would host the Golden Avalanche football team for 36 years until the program was cancelled by the school due to financial concerns. The university also utilized the stadium for other athletic competitions, including track and field and soccer. In track and field, the stadium hosted a notable match-up between two future United States Olympians:

Ralph Metcalfe Ralph Harold Metcalfe Sr. (May 29, 1910 – October 10, 1978) was an American track and field sprinter and politician. He jointly held the world record in the 100-meter dash and placed second in that event in two Olympics, first to Eddie Tola ...

and

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who made history at the Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold meda ...

. In a 1934

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) meet, Metcalfe beat Owens in the

100 yard dash "100 Yard Dash" is a song by American recording artist Raphael Saadiq, released as a single (music), single on March 30, 2009, by Columbia Records. It was the second single from Saadiq's 2008 album ''The Way I See It''. "100 Yard Dash" is an upbe ...

, while Owens beat Metcalfe in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Owens and Metcalfe both were chosen for the 1936 United States Olympic team and competed in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. After Marquette cancelled its football program,

used the stadium for football games until the end of 1974. In addition to hosting Marquette University High School, the stadium also hosted a game between Milwaukee Pulaski High School and Bay View High School that is notable due to its large crowd size of about 19,500 fans. In 1951, Marquette conferred an honorary doctoral degree to General Douglass MacArthur, who was born in Milwaukee. Thousands of people gathered to witness MacArthur’s visit, while about 22,000 people attended the conferment ceremony in Marquette Stadium. By the late 1960s, the stadium was criticized for being in poor condition as it hosted high school football games. The

Milwaukee Panthers football College football at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee traces its lineage back to 1899. The original varsity program was terminated following the 1974 season. Club football was introduced at Milwaukee in 2003. History Early years (18 ...

team used the stadium for its home games in at least 1973 and 1974. In 1976, the grandstand was demolished due to its age, vandalism, and other security challenges. The field continued to be used during demolition. The vacant field was still utilized by both the college and the high school for track and field, soccer, and

Intramural sports Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' m ...

Green Bay Packers

The NFL's

began splitting their home games between

, and Milwaukee in 1933, first playing at

was originally conceived as a baseball facility for Milwaukee's

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team, but became home to the

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

when they moved from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. During the facility's construction in 1952, the ''

Green Bay Press-Gazette The ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' is a newspaper whose primary coverage is northeastern Wisconsin, including Green Bay. History The newspaper was founded as the ''Green Bay Gazette'' in 1866 as a weekly paper, becoming a daily newspaper in 1 ...

'' noted that team officials were hopeful the stadium would be finished in time for the upcoming

1952 NFL season The 1952 NFL season was the 33rd regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, New York Yanks owner Ted Collins sold his team back to the NFL. A few days later, an ownership group in Dallas, Texas, purchased the Yanks fr ...

. However, the stadium was not ready in time, while Wisconsin State Fair Park was not available because some bleachers had been removed. As an emergency solution, the Packers were provided Marquette Stadium to play their Milwaukee home games. The Packers had played at least one game at Marquette Stadium before; in 1942, they played an exhibition game against a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

all-star team. The Packers played three regular season games at Marquette that season, winning two and losing one; there also was one exhibition match played prior to the start of the season. Attendance peaked at about 21,000 in their loss against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

. Two of the games were notable: the Packers' victory against the Redskins came against former Packers co-founder and head coach

Curly Lambeau Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau ( ; April 9, 1898 – June 1, 1965) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin native, George Whitney ...

, while their loss against the Rams saw them blow a 28–6 lead in the final 12 minutes of the game. Starting in 1953, the Packers played a few home games a year at

until 1994, when they moved all their home games back to

Lambeau Field Lambeau Field () is an outdoor athletic stadium in the East North Central states, north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), it opened in 1957 Green ...

in Green Bay.

Refurbishment

In 1998, the property was sold by Marquette to

, which is located a few blocks from the site. The site was redeveloped into a track and field and soccer complex called Quad Park, which support the high school's athletic programs. The current field is slightly west of the original that was within Marquette Stadium. The Quad has hosted

Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) is the regulatory body for all high school sports in Wisconsin. Its history dates to 1895, making it the earliest continually existing high school athletic organization in the country. ...

(WIAA) sporting events.

References