CAMP RANDALL STADIUM

'Camp Randall Stadium' is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. It is the current home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team, and is located on the west side of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. It currently seats 80,321 [1] and is widely known as one of the premier American football venues in collegiate athletics. It is the oldest stadium and fourth largest in the Big Ten Conference. The stadium is also on the list of National Register of Historic Places.
Originally, the stadium consisted of a horseshoe opening to the south, with a running track around the field. The stadium was renovated at various points to raise the size of the horseshoe by nearly doubling the number of rows around the stadium in various stages, placing south stands in front of the Wisconsin Field House (built in 1930), the removal of the track and addition of nearly 11,000 seats in 1958, the addition of the upper deck in 1966, and finally the 2005 addition added boxes along the eastern rim of the stadium.
The stadium received its name because it lies on the grounds of Camp Randall, a former Union Army base during the American Civil War that was eventually absorbed by the Wisconsin campus. The camp was named after Governor Alexander Randall, who was also a United States Postmaster General.
The field was originally natural grass, and was one of the first in the United States to convert to artificial turf, in 1968. A new AstroTurf field was installed in 1990. An artificial grass field, FieldTurf, was installed for the 2003 season.
The stadium also houses athletic offices of the university. In 2002, a large-scale reconstruction project commenced, in which luxury boxes, football program offices, and expanded seating that increased capacity. In addition, concessions, restrooms and other infrastructure items were upgraded, the walkway around the football field was removed, and new scoreboards were installed. The construction was completed prior to the start of the 2005 season. The football team continued to play at the stadium throughout the construction.
The numbers of Wisconsin's two Heisman Trophy winners, Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne, are displayed on the upper deck façade. Ameche's number is retired; Dayne's is not, but has not been issued since his final season. The retired numbers of Elroy Hirsch (40), Dave Schreiner (80), Allan Schafer (83), and Pat Richter (88) were added during the 2006 football season. [2]


At Barry Alvarez's final game as head coach in 2005, plans were announced to place a statue of him in the Stadium's Kellner Plaza. The bronze statue was unveiled on 13 October 2006. On 17 November, it was joined by a similar statue of former UW athlete and athletic director Pat Richter. [3]

Contents

"The Camp Randall Crush"

Other Uses

The Camp Randall Complex

References

"The Camp Randall Crush"

On October 30, 1993, the Wisconsin Badgers football team upset the Michigan Wolverines 13-10. As the final gun sounded, students began to charge the field to celebrate, but were blocked by the guardrails surrounding the field. The crowd in the back, not fully aware of what was going on at the front, continued to move forward, now being aided by gravity. As a result, those up front got caught and were pressed against the rails, and then were trampled as the throng spilled onto the field. 73 students were injured, six of them critically. Several Badgers football players assisted with removing the injured from the tangle.
As a result, design changes were made in the stadium which increased the size and strength of the fences.

Other Uses

Drum Corps International has used the stadium as the site for its world championships in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1999, 2002, and 2006.
The stadium is also used by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association for its state football championships. For several seasons, the Green Bay Packers played one exhibition game per year at Camp Randall, which has a much larger seating capacity than the Packer's home stadium, Lambeau Field.
Camp Randall has also hosted a number of major concerts, including: Pink Floyd (May 20, 1988 & July 3, 1994), Genesis (June 9, 1992), U2 (September 13, 1992 & June 25, 1997), and The Rolling Stones (August 26, 1994 & October 6, 1997).

The Camp Randall Complex

The Camp Randall athletic complex also includes three other facilities.
The Field House was home to the UW basketball teams until January of 1998, when they moved into the Kohl Center. It is still home to Wisconsin's wrestling and women's volleyball teams.
The Dave McClain Athletic Facility, an indoor football practice facility, was built to honor the late Badgers football coach, Dave McClain. In addition to the indoor practice field, it also houses locker rooms for football, men's and women's track, and softball. Strength and conditioning, sports medicine and academic services also have facilities in the building.
The Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center ("The Shell") features a 200 meter indoor track surrounding several facilities for intramural sports. The indoor track facilities are used by the UW track teams during their indoor seasons. The Shell also houses a practice ice sheet and the locker room for the women's ice hockey team.

References

★ Camp Randall on UWBadgers.com

★ Camp Randall on Ballparks.com

★ The Fieldhouse on UWBadgers.com

★ McClain Facilty on UWBadgers.com

★ "The Shell" on UWBadgers.com