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Rice-Eccles Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rice-Eccles Stadium | |
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| Location | 451 South 1400 East, Ste. 600 Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 |
| Broke ground | 1927 |
| Opened | 1927 (renovated in 1998) |
| Owner | University of Utah |
| Operator | University of Utah |
| Surface | FieldTurf (since 2002) |
| Construction cost | $133,000 (most recent renovation: $50 million) |
| Former names | Ute Stadium (1927-71) Rice Stadium (1972-97) |
| Tenants | |
| Utah Utes (NCAA) (1927-Present) Real Salt Lake (MLS) (2005-Present) |
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| Capacity | |
| 45,017 | |
Rice-Eccles Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the home field of the Utah Utes of the Mountain West Conference. It was originally built in 1927 at a cost of $133,000. The stadium was improved in 1972 and rebuilt in 1998 for the 2002 Winter Olympics; the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were held at the stadium, which was temporarily renamed "Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium." The stadium also hosted the massive Day of Celebration in July 2005.
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The stadium, originally named Ute Stadium, opened in 1927 with a seating capacity of 20,000. The first college football game was a 40-6 Ute victory over Colorado Mines on October 1st. It was dedicated three weeks later on October 22nd with a 20-13 victory over Colorado.[1] An additional 10,000 seats were added to the north end in 1947, formerly a dirt pile, creating a horseshoe stadium (and amphitheater). The stadium's construction was a combination of timber, concrete, and earth-fill. [2]
Cummings Field was the previous home of Utah football, dating from the turn of the 20th century, when the campus moved to its present site from downtown Salt Lake City. Prior to Cummings Field, most of the Utah football games were played at Walker Field at Ninth South and Main in Salt Lake City. [3]
Robert L. "Bob" Rice gave $1 million to the university to renovate the aging stadium in 1972. Additional seating was added to the south end of the stadium, lighting installed, new locker rooms and a new press box were added. The playing surface was lowered, the running track removed, and astroturf was installed. This brought the capacity to 32,500 and the university changed the venue's name to Rice Stadium.The renovations are the south endzone.
To bring it to standard for the Olympic opening ceremonies, the stadium underwent a $50 million renovation in May 1997, completed in September 1998. $10 million of the renovation was donated by Spencer Eccles, through the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundations. The rest of the funds were raised from private donations, bonds, and the Salt Lake Olympic Committee. The stadium did not miss a football season, as the project was timed not to disrupt the 1997 home schedule. [4]
Immediatley after the final home game on Novermber 15th, fittingly a 31-14 victory over Rice, most of Rice Stadium was demolished for the renovation. Only the south-end stands, built in 1982, remained. The new stadium was ready less than 10 months later for the 1998 home opener, a 45-22 win over Louisville on September 12th. The university retained the Rice name and added Eccles, to recognize the contributions of both the old and new facilities.The stadium now seats 46,414 and has a 6 story press box.
The playing field at Rice-Eccles Stadium is FieldTurf, a next-generation infilled synthetic turf, which was installed in 2002. The football field runs in the traditional north-south configuration, and sits at an elevation of 4657 feet (1419 m) above sea level, 330 feet (100 m) above downtown Salt Lake City. [5]
When the stadium re-opened in 1998, it was lined with SportsGrass, a hybrid of natural grass and artificial turf that the university installed in Rice Stadium in 1995. In 2000, natural grass replaced the SportsGrass for two seasons until the end of the 2001 football season, when it was covered by blacktop for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in February.
As Ute Stadium (1927-71), the football field was natural grass; from 1972-94 the playing surface was astroturf.
Since 2005, Rice-Eccles Stadium has also been the home field of the Major League Soccer franchise Real Salt Lake. It was recently announced that a soccer-specific stadium for the team will be constructed in the suburb of Sandy, south of the city.
Immediately south of the stadium is the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park.
- University of Utah - official university site - Rice-Eccles Stadium
- Continuum Winter 1998: History of Utah's football stadiums
- Utah Utes.com - official athletics site - Rice-Eccles Stadium
- Terraserver.microsoft.com - satellite photo (2003), aerial photo (1997),& USGS topo map - University of Utah campus
| Preceded by first stadium |
Home of Real Salt Lake 2005–present |
Succeeded by Real Salt Lake Stadium planned for 2008 |
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| Amon G. Carter Stadium (TCU) • Falcon Stadium (Air Force) • Hughes Stadium (Colorado State) • LaVell Edwards Stadium (BYU) • Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego State) • Rice-Eccles Stadium (Utah) • Sam Boyd Stadium (UNLV) • University Stadium (New Mexico) • War Memorial Stadium (Wyoming) |
Categories: Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City, Utah | College football venues | Major League Soccer stadiums | Real Salt Lake | Soccer venues in the United States | Sports in Salt Lake City, Utah | Sports venues in Utah | Utah Utes football | Venues of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games | Salt Lake City, Utah