Every fall the colors of maroon and
orange not only describes the changing leaves as one drives through the
Appalachian Mountains to Blacksburg, VA, but portrays the sea of
color one will see at Lane Stadium each Saturday for Hokies games. For
several decades the Hokies played at Miles
Stadium, an average size stadium for its time. However, by the early
1960s, Stuart Cassell proposed a plan to build new athletic facilities. Miles Stadium needed to be replaced because of
its size and to allow additional construction of buildings at Virginia
Tech. After raising enough money for a new stadium, construction began
in April 1964. The new stadium was named after Edward H. Lane, who
helped raise $3 million for the project. Although the stadium was not
yet complete, the Hokies played their first game at Lane Stadium on
October 2, 1965 against William and Mary. Construction of the $3.5
million stadium was completed by 1968 and seated 35,050 fans.
Grandstands were on both sides of the gridiron and a three tier press
box was atop the west grandstand.
With growing support for the
team, additional seating was added to the east stands in 1980 bringing
the capacity to 52,500. The Hokies played under lights for the first
time in 1982 against the University of Virginia. A new scoreboard was
installed in the north endzone prior to the start of the 1991 season.
Over the past decade, fans attending games have seen many additions
to Lane Stadium. Prior to the 1999 season, 2,000 seats were
constructed on the north endzone and the following year a new
video/scoreboard, known as Hokievision was added. Perhaps the biggest
addition to Lane Stadium was completed prior to the 2003 season. A two
tier grandstand featuring 11,000 seats, 15 luxury suites and a new
visitor’s locker room was added. After the 2003 season, Virginia
Tech began its latest expansion, this time on the west side of the
stadium. The $52.5 million expansion included 23 luxury suites, a new pressbox and club seating. The addition increased Lane Stadium's seating capacity
to 66,233. Today, Lane Stadium is one of
the best stadiums in college football.
Hokies in the NFL:
Lee Suggs, DeAngelo Hall, Andre Davis, Eddie Royal Hokie Traditions: Hokie Stone, School Colors of Maroon and
Orange, the Hokie Bird mascot
PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO VIRGINIA TECH AND LANE STADIUM
Lane
Stadium
