University Stadium, Albuquerque
| Turner & Margaret Branch Field | |
View of Stadium from south stands
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| Location | 1111 University Boulevard SE, Albuquerque, NM 87131 |
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| Coordinates | 35°4′1″N 106°37′42″W / 35.06694°N 106.62833°WCoordinates: 35°4′1″N 106°37′42″W / 35.06694°N 106.62833°W |
| Owner | Univ. of New Mexico |
| Operator | Univ. of New Mexico |
| Capacity | 30,000 (1960–1977) 30,646 (1978–1994) 31,218 (1995–2000) 37,370 (2001–2003) 38,634 (2004–2007) 40,094 (2008–2009) 39,224 (2010–present) |
| Record attendance | 44,760 (New Mexico vs. New Mexico State, 2005) |
| Surface | FieldTurf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1958 |
| Opened | September 17, 1960 |
| Construction cost | $4.1 million ($33.2 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | W.C. Kruger and Associates |
| Tenants | |
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New Mexico Lobos football (NCAA) (1960–present) New Mexico Bowl (NCAA) (2006–present) |
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The University Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the south campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the home field of the New Mexico Lobos football team of the Mountain West Conference. The stadium opened in September 1960 and currently has a seating capacity of 39,224. The newly installed synthetic turf surface field runs in the traditional north-south configuration and sits at an elevation of 5100 feet (1554 m) above sea level.
The stadium replaced Zimmerman Field, a 16,000-seat stadium which was located just south of the current Zimmerman Library. The main campus would expand with removing the old field, room for campus facilities, and a new humanities building now stand in the space. The university purchased land south of campus, near the corner of Avenida Cesar Chavez and University Boulevard for the current stadium. This land became the "south campus", which includes WisePies Arena (aka The Pit) and Isotopes Park, the Lobo Tennis Club, Lobo Field, Lobo Softball field, the Rudy Davalos Basketball Center and buildings housing the athletics department as well as the football stadium.
When it opened in 1960, University Stadium consisted of the east and west stands and press box. The stadium was built in an existing arroyo with the grandstands built up from moved earth for an earthen fill that was then cemented over. This "berm" style construction placed the field below ground level with seats above and below the natural ground level. Initial costs for the stadium were just over $4 million. University Stadium opened on September 17, 1960 with UNM defeating an overmatched National University of Mexico by a score of 77-6.
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