Field Notes

When the 2014 Big Green football season ends, demolition begins as Memorial Field receives a $12.5-million facelift. "The ivy-covered brick facade will be preserved, but the remainder of the 91-year-old west stands will be entirely replaced," says Rick Bender, director of varsity athletics communications. "The new stands will include wider aisles and concourses, hand rails, modern restrooms, a premium chair-back section on the 50-yard line, a new press box and accessible seating on three levels connected by an elevator." Here's a look back at key moments in the stadium's history.

A committee of alumni and College officers started raising funds in 1919 for a campus tribute to honor the 112 students and alumni who died during World War I. The campaign brought in more than $250,000, and the 7,100-seat Memorial Field was dedicated on Dartmouth Night, November 3,1923.

TURF WAR Students dug trenches in the fields immediately east of Alumni Oval as part of their training for military service in World War I.

Precast concrete sup- ports that will be used in the new west stands have sat in a Vermont field since 2008, when renovations were de- layed due to the global financial crisis.

j SATURDAYNIGHT LIGHTS ! Dartmouth hosted its I first night game on I October 1, 2011, beneath the glow of seven light towers. The next night game falls on September 20 against Central Connecticut.

II 11118 yyws The new west stands will feature 2,000 fewer seats, partly due to building code compli- ance and because"the industry standard for butt width—for lack of a better term—has changed from 16 to 18 inches," says Bender.

i Students from the , state agricultural j college once cultivated | crops on the Memorial ' Field site. Dartmouth purchased the property • in 1892 to build Alumni Oval, a 10-acre athletic , park that featured a ■ cinder track, gridiron, I baseball diamond and I 800-seat wooden ' grandstand. r • 4 ' J

GO BIGSCREEN A 16-by-23-foot HD video scoreboard was " installed in 2013.

Synthetic Field Turf re- placed Memorial Field's natural grass in 2006. The new surface allows for heavier usage and easier snow plowing.

THE COLDESTYARD "While there are no official records on this," says Bender, "we have a strong suspicion that : more snow has fallen on games in Memorial Field than in any other Ivy stadium, including this past year's fourth quarter against Princ- eton, when the Tigers were attempting their , comeback."