| Ryan Field | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | 1501 Central St, Evanston, IL 60201 |
| Opened | 1926 |
| Closed | November 18, 2023 |
| Demolished | January 29, 2024 - May 2024 |
| Owner | Northwestern University |
| Operator | Northwestern University |
| Surface | Grass 1926 to 1972 Astroturf 1973 to 1996 Grass 1997 to present |
| Construction cost | original: unknown 1996 renovation: US$20M |
| Architect | James Gamble Rogers |
| Former names | Dyche Stadium (1926–1997) |
| Tenants | Northwestern Wildcats (NCAA) (1926–2023) |
| Capacity | 47,130 |
Ryan Field was a stadium in Evanston, Illinois. It was primarily used for American football, and was the home field of the Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference. The field opened in 1926 and held 47,130 people. Prior to 1997, the stadium was named Dyche Stadium, for William Dyche, Class of 1882, former Evanston mayor and overseer of the building project. In 1997, the field was renamed Ryan Field in honor of the family of Patrick G. Ryan, who was then the chairman of Northwestern's board of trustees. The renaming was made by the other members of the board in recognition of the Ryan family's leadership and numerous contributions to Northwestern, including the lead gift to the Campaign for Athletic Excellence, Northwestern's fundraising drive for athletic facilities.
History[]
At the time it was constructed, Dyche Stadium was considered one of the finest college football stadiums in the country.[1] The stadium originally consisted of two semi-circular grandstands on either sideline, with the west (home) sideline having a small, curved upper deck whose 2 ends abut in matching concrete towers. The purpose of the curved grandstands was to maximize the number of fans sitting close to the action.[1] Endzone seating was later added in the south endzone, and in 1952 McGaw Memorial Hall was built beyond the north endzone.
The stadium had an artificial turf surface from 1973 to 1996. Prior to the 1997 season, natural grass was installed and the playing surface was lowered approximately five feet to improve sight lines from the lowest rows of the grandstands.
The Chicago Bears hosted their first home game of the 1970 season at Dyche Stadium as an experiment; the NFL had demanded that the Bears move out of Wrigley Field because Wrigley's seating capacity was under 50,000. After Evanston residents petitioned city officials to block the team from moving there permanently, the Bears ended up moving to Chicago's Soldier Field the following year.
Pending replacement[]
Template:Multiple image On September 22, 2021, Northwestern announced that the Ryan family had donated $480 million to the university, the largest donation in its history. The donation supported several academic initiatives and provided initial funding for replacing Ryan Field with a new stadium at the current site.[2][3] A year later, Northwestern announced initial design concepts for the new stadium, and also announced that the Ryans had committed to adding to the initial stadium gift.
The new Ryan Field will seat 35,000, more than 12,000 less than the current stadium, and feature a canopy to better focus light and noise toward the field and away from the surrounding neighborhood. Also, it will be entirely privately funded.[4] It will have a much smaller footprint than the current stadium; Northwestern released a preliminary schematic indicating that the most distant seats would be roughly the same distance from the sidelines as the back rows of the lower deck of the (much larger) Notre Dame Stadium.[5]
Northwestern's plan to use the new stadium as a commercial concert venue had been met with opposition from stadium neighbors and other Evanston residents. [6] Issues included Northwestern's alleged failure to address issues of noise, parking, traffic congestion, and public safety. [7] Additionally, some have questioned the stadium's continuing to have a property tax exemption while being used for commercial purposes.
Ryan Field undergoing demolition in April 2024
On January 20, 2024, it was announced that a demolition process, without explosives, would begin on January 29. The process is expected to take 4 to 6 months, after confirmation that a new, $800 million stadium would replace the current, aging one.[8]
Transportation[]
The closest transit stations are Metra commuter railroad's Central Street station and Chicago Transit Authority's Central station on the Purple Line.
In popular culture[]
Parts of the The Express, an 2008 film about Syracuse University Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis starring Rob Brown as Davis, and Dennis Quaid as Davis' Syracuse coach, Ben Schwartzwalder, were filmed at Ryan Field.[9]
November 2006
November 2006
Parts of Four Friends, a 1981 film directed by Arthur Penn, were filmed at Ryan Field.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Northwestern University:celebrating 150 years,Jay Pridmore (2000). . Northwestern University Press. ISBN .
- ↑ Template:Cite press release
- ↑ <https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/09/06/funded-by-the-same-480-million-gift-as-stadium-proposal-ryan-institute-launches-at-northwestern/>
- ↑ N'western gets city council's OK for new stadium (in en) (2023-11-21).
- ↑ Ryan Field: A New Vision. Northwestern University.
- ↑ <https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/evanston/ct-evr-ryan-field-update-tl-1110-20221107-v5jmvrpofbbynabzponkwjh2mm-story.html>
- ↑ <https://evanstonroundtable.com/2023/03/25/guest-essay-neighborhood-representatives-on-ryan-field-stadium-working-group/>
- ↑ Northwestern gets green light to move forward with Ryan Field rebuild.
- ↑ Bringing Hollywood to NU. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.