McCulloch Stadium is a 2,500-seat outdoor stadium in the

Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming ...

, located in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

. Built in 1950, the multi-use facility serves as home to

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

's football and track & field teams, and

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

games. Located in

Bush's Pasture Park Bush's Pasture Park (90.5 acres) is a public park and botanical garden in Salem, Oregon, United States. It is the site of the Asahel Bush House, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and is now operated as the Bus ...

south of Willamette's campus, the stadium includes a grandstand, football field, and track.

History

Charles E. McCulloch donated $50,000 to the school in June 1947 in order to build an athletic complex on at what is now Bush's Pasture Park. At the time, McCulloch was president of the university's board of trustees and an attorney in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

where he was a partner at what is now

Stoel Rives Stoel Rives LLP is a U.S. business law firm with 10 office locations in seven U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, in the Park Avenue West Tower, it is the largest law firm in the state of Oregon, having 326 attorn ...

. The proposed stadium was to have seating for 3,500 in a concrete grandstand, plus a baseball diamond, track, and practice field for the football team. Construction began in March 1950 with it planned to be completed in time for that year's football season. It was also announced the stadium would be named for Charles E. McCulloch and have a total capacity of 7,000. On October 14, 1950, a dedication ceremony was held with school president G. Herbert Smith and Oregon governor

Douglas McKay James Douglas McKay (June 24, 1893 – July 22, 1959) was an American businessman and politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in World War I before going into business, where he was most successful as a car dealership owner in Salem ...

on hand to welcome

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and honor the 1941 Willamette team that was stranded in Hawaii after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

. The

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football team held their first scrimmage of the 1958 season at the stadium on July 31. Around 1970 the track surface was converted to an asphalt and rubber surface, which was resurfaced in the 1980s. McCulloch Stadium went through a major renovation in 1993.Salem Online History: Willamette University
/ref> After renovations, the field was named Ted Ogdahl Field in honor of the former coach while the locker rooms were dedicated in the honor of Jeff Knox. In October 1997,

Liz Heaston Elizabeth Heaston Thompson (born 1977) is an American athlete who is the first woman ever to score in a college football game. She accomplished this feat on October 18, 1997 as a placekicker for the Willamette Bearcats football team of Willamet ...

became the first female to play in a college football game, kicking two extra points in the

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

at McCulloch against

Linfield College Linfield University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with campuses in McMinnville, Oregon, McMinnville, and Portland, Oregon. Linfield Wildcats athletics participate in the Northwest ...

. A new $300,000 rekotan track surface was installed at the stadium in 2000. At that time university officials discovered the previous track was too long. In 2003 the grass field was removed and a new FieldTurf surface was installed at a cost of $500,000. Later that year lights were re-installed at McCulloch at a cost of $110,000. A new video scoreboard was added at the facility in 2007.

Sports

The stadium hosts a variety of sports. These include lacrosse, football, soccer, and track meets. McCulloch can seat 2,500 spectators. All seats at the stadium are in the covered grandstand on the west side of the playing surface. The grandstands include a press box, offices for the coaches, player locker rooms, and athletic training facilities. McCulloch includes the eight lane Charles Bowles Track for the school's track teams. The stadium also host

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

football games, including OSAA playoff games.

References

External links

Information and photos at Willamette University
{{Premier Development League stadiums College football venues in Oregon Willamette Bearcats football Athletics (track and field) venues in Oregon College track and field venues in the United States Soccer venues in Oregon Sports venues completed in 1950 Willamette University campus Tourist attractions in Salem, Oregon 1950 establishments in Oregon