World War I Memorial Stadium (previously Memorial Stadium) is a

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 ...

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city in and the county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big ...

, United States. From its opening in 1922 until 1967 it was the home field of the

Kansas State Wildcats football The Kansas State Wildcats football program (variously K-State or KSU) is the intercollegiate football program of the Kansas State University Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and the tea ...

team, prior to the opening of

Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Bill Snyder Family Stadium is a stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. It is used for American football, and is the home field of the Kansas State Wildcats football, Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. It is named after the family of head co ...

(known as KSU Stadium from 1968 to 2005). It was also used by

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

for

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 ...

Stadium history

The stadium was built and named in tribute to Kansas State students who died 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 ...

. The west stands were built in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, and the stands on the east side of the stadium were completed two years later. Its general

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 that ...

was 17,500 people when completed, although attendance sometimes exceeded 20,000. The stadium was built at the location of

Ahearn Field Ahearn Field was the first on-campus athletic field for Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It was utilized from 1911 to 1922 by the football team, baseball team, and track team. The field was named in honor of former coach Mike Ahear ...

, and as late as 1938 the field was still known as Ahearn Field at Memorial Stadium. The original plans for the stadium included an enclosed bowl, but the final phase of the stadium was never built. In 2015–16, both sides of the stadium were renovated, with much of the seating bowl converted to

gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

. The stadium was officially re-dedicated as "World War I Memorial Stadium" on April 21, 2017.

Football history

The first game held at the stadium was on October 6,

, when only the west wing of the stadium was complete. Kansas State defeated

Washburn University Washburn University (WU), formally Washburn University of Topeka, is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs as well as professional programs in law and business. The university enroll ...

in that initial contest 47–0. The east wing of the stadium opened for the 1924 season. Four years later in 1928, a two-story wooden press-box was added to the east wing. The upper level was for press, while the lower level featured boxes for distinguished alumni and guests. A pre-World War II record crowd of 17,545 attended the Wildcats' game against #6 Oklahoma on November 11, 1939. Kansas State lost the game 13–10. After the war there were a handful of games where attendance exceeded 20,000, including a crowd of 23,822 to watch #18 Kansas State play #9 Oklahoma in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

. The first

night Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...

college football game at Memorial Stadium was played on September 20,

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

Oklahoma A&M Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known as ...

defeated Kansas State by a score of 12–0.

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

defeated Kansas State 40-6 in stadium's last game November 18, 1967.

Stadium today

Athletic events

The stadium is still used for athletics. In 2002 the grass field was replaced with

FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...

and the

cinder track A cinder track is a type of race track, generally purposed for track and field or horse racing, whose surface is composed of cinders. For running tracks, many cinder surfaces have been replaced by all-weather synthetic surfaces, which provide g ...

was replaced with a rubberized surface. The playing field is now painted for use by the school's club MCLA lacrosse team,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team, and is also used as the home pitch for the Rugby team, as well as the

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

's practice field.

Other uses

In addition to the stadium's use for athletics, the areas underneath the stadium's seats are utilized for university offices and academic purposes. The East Stadium now houses the newly renovated Berney Family Welcome Center, while the West Stadium houses a newly built Purple Masque Theater. KSUMemorialStadium1

Through the years, occasional concerts and band competitions have been held in the stadium.

References

{{Kansas college football venues Defunct college football venues Sports venues completed in 1922 Kansas State Wildcats football venues Defunct sports venues in Kansas 1922 establishments in Kansas