Francis Field (St. Louis County, Missouri)
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| Location | St. Louis, Missouri |
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| Owner | Washington University in St. Louis |
| Operator | Washington University in St. Louis |
| Capacity | 4,000 19,000 (previous) |
| Surface | FieldTurf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1903 |
| Opened | 1904 |
| Architect | Cope and Stewardson |
| Tenants | |
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Washington University Bears (NCAA) St. Louis Stars (NASL) (1975–77) |
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Francis Field is a stadium at Washington University in St. Louis that was used as the main stadium for the 1904 Summer Olympics. It is currently used by the university's track and field, cross country, football, and soccer teams. It is located in St. Louis County, Missouri on the far western edge of the university's Danforth Campus. Built in time for the 1904 World's Fair, the stadium once had a 19,000 person seating capacity, but stadium renovations in 1984 reduced the capacity to 4,000 persons. It is one of the oldest sports venues west of the Mississippi River that is still in use. Francis Field now utilizes artificial Field Turf, which can be configured for both soccer and football.
The 1904 Summer Olympics (the first to be held in the Western Hemisphere) were given to St. Louis, Missouri as a result of the efforts of David Rowland Francis, for whom the stadium and accompanying gymnasium are named. Built in 1902, Francis Field's permanent stands represent one of the first applications of reinforced concrete technology. Both Francis Field and its gymnasium are U.S. National Historic Landmarks. During those games, the stadium hosted the archery, athletics, cycling, football, gymnastics, lacrosse, roque, tug of war, weightlifting, and wrestling events. At some dirt courts located outside the stadium, the tennis events took place.
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