Former names | Soldier Field (1892–1901) |
---|---|
Location | Pullman, Washington |
Owner | Washington State University |
Operator | Washington State University |
Capacity | 23,500 |
Surface | Natural grass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1892 |
Opened | 1892, 1895 (football) |
Renovated | 1936 |
Closed | 1970 – November |
Demolished | 1971 |
Tenants | |
WSU Cougars (1892–1969) (Pacific-8 Conference, NCAA) Idaho Vandals (1969–70) – NCAA |
Rogers Field was an outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. It was the home venue of the WSU Cougars football and track teams until severely damaged by a fire in April 1970. Demolished in early 1971, Rogers Field was replaced by the concrete Martin Stadium, which was built on the same site and opened in 1972.
Originally opened 125 years ago in 1892 for track and field and named "Soldier Field", it hosted its first football game in 1895, when WSU defeated its Palouse neighbor Idaho 10–4. In 1902, the stadium was renamed for Governor John Rogers, who died in office the previous December. In its early years, it also hosted Cougar baseball, with home plate in the southeast corner. The final structure was completely rebuilt in 1936.
The 23,500-seat wooden stadium had a horseshoe-shaped grandstand, open on the west end, with a 440-yard (402 m) running track. The press box sat at the top of the south sideline's grandstand, and the playing field was natural grass, at an elevation of 2,530 feet (770 m) above sea level. The field was unlit, but plans were in place to install AstroTurf for the 1970 season. The running track was cinder until replaced by an all-weather rubberized surface in early 1968.