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college football stadiums |
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Ross
Ade Stadium
West Lafayette, IN
As a quaint and unique
stadium, Ross Ade Stadium has been the home of the Purdue Boilermakers
for over eight decades. Before Ross Ade Stadium's construction, the Purdue football team had
played at Stuart Field. During the first few decades of the twentieth
century, Purdue had a very successful football team. David Ross, an
alumni of Purdue University, showed that it was time that a new
stadium was built as it would provide for a better team and more fans.
By the early 1920s, Purdue University decided to build a new stadium
for the team. The stadium was built on land purchased by Ross and
George Ade. Ross-Ade Stadium was constructed and completed in 1924.
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The Purdue Boilermakers played
the first game at Ross Ade Stadium on November 22, 1924 against the
Indiana Hoosiers. The stadium originally seated 13,500 fans with
seating on both the east and west sides of the playing field. As more
fans became interested in the football team, Purdue decided to expand
Ross Ade Stadium. The first addition came in 1930 when 5,000 seats
were added in the north end zone. A permanent grandstand on the west
side was built prior to the 1949 season increasing the seating
capacity to 51,295. One year later a new press box was built on the
west side of the stadium. In 1955, permanent stands were built on the
east side of Ross Ade Stadium boosting the capacity to 55,500. By
1963, the university lowered the field to add 13 additional rows of seats
around the field. The last of the temporary stands were eliminated
before the 1969 season when permanent stands were built in the north
end zone. This brought the seating capacity to 62,500. Since 1969,
there have been very few changes to Ross Ade Stadium. In 1997 a new
video/scoreboard was installed on the south end zone and prior to the
2002 season a new press box on the west side was completed. This
expansion also included 34 luxury suites and 200 club seats. Today a
one tier grandstand in a horseshoe shape encloses the field.
Additional bleachers are located at the south end zone where the main
scoreboard is. Unlike many other stadiums in college football, Ross Ade Stadium has always had a natural grass field. Future plans to the
stadium include adding an upper deck to the east and north sides of
the stadium. This plan is contingent on an increase in future ticket
sales. |
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HOTELS NEAR ROSS ADE STADIUM |
DIRECTIONS TO ROSS ADE STADIUM |
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