Missouri Facilities - Faurot Field

Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium looks nothing like it did when first built in 1926. But the stadium still carries a certain nostalgic feeling when watching a Missouri game every Saturday afternoon..

For most of the its early existence, the football team played at Rollins Field located at the southeast corner of Rollins St. and Maryland Ave. But in the early 1920's, crowds began to overflow Rollins Field and all other athletic plants in the Missouri Valley. Kansas opened a new stadium 1921, followed by Kansas State (1923), Oklahoma (1923), and Nebraska (1923).

In 1923, the University of Missouri began a drive to raise the final $800,000 for a memorial union and now a memorial stadium. Both buildings would be dedicated to the Missouri servicemen who died in World War I.

On Apr. 28, 1925, the board of curators approved the location of Memorial Stadium. It would be built "in the natural ravine just south of of the university golf links and east of Providence Road." Work began on excavating dirt and rock near the end of 1925.

Memorial Stadium opened on Oct. 2, 1926 against the Tulane Green Wave with only 10,000 fans in attendance. Heavy rains hit Columbia before kickoff which contributed to the low turnout and poor field conditions. Since the new field had yet to settle, sand and tanbark was spread over the field, but that made the field mushy and players trudged through it like quicksand.

Before the Kansas game in 1927, the most unique feature of the stadium was built. The night before, freshman got together, gathered rock from the stadium's excavation and built an "M" on the north hill. Ever since it has become a tradition for freshman to white wash the "M" before the season begins.

The stadium basically remained unchanged until 1934. As crowds grew, so did newspapers and radio stations covering the games. In order to accommodate the expanding media, the press box was doubled in size. Also, the first public address system was installed to inform fans of player substitutions and other important information.

Missouri football continued to grow popularity in the 1940's thanks to such players as Paul Christman and Bob Steuber. Temporary bleachers had been used to hold larger crowds, but in 1949 the school decided it was time to expand. That year seats were added to the center of the west stands, increasing the number of rows from 40 to 78 and increasing capacity to 28,500. Also included was a new press box with 8 radio booths and seating for 50 print reporters.

A year later, a similar expansion took place on the east side, making the capacity 35,000. The stadium remained the same until 1961 when the upper stands were extended north on both sides. That added more than 9,000 seats. The wings were eventually completed during a three year span as 3,595 seats were added to west stands in 1963 while the east stands were extended south in 1965.

Two years later, the press box built in 1949 became obsolete as newspaper writers were crammed in like sardines, leaving minimal room to work. $535,000 was spent on a new three level structure. The new tower featured a larger working press area, more broadcast booths, and a 268 seat VIP section on the first level.

The stadium remained physically unchanged for a decade, but in 1972 the facility received a name change. The playing surface was renamed Faurot Field in honor of the school's long-time football coach and athletic director, Don Faurot.

In 1978, the south end of Faurot Field was enclosed with 10,000 additional seats. Original plans called for seats in the north end zone and an open south end. But the grass hill and rock 'M' had become such an icon that the original plans were scrapped.

For the first 94 years of Tiger football, grass was the only surface the football team had ever played on in Columbia. In the 1970's, however, artificial turf began to be installed in many professional and college stadiums. Finally in 1985, the University of Missouri installed OmniTurf on Faurot Field. The new turf's design was very similar to the current FieldTurf. Unlike AstroTurf which is glued to the surface, OmniTurf was held in place with sand.

But the turf caused problems almost immediately as players complained the surface was too slick and often caused "turf tackles". The turf, ironically, seemed to give better traction when it was wet. Finally, after 10 seasons of use, the OmniTurf was torn up following the 1994 season and replaced with natural grass.

Since Memorial Stadium opened, the Missouri locker room had been under the south side of the east stands. But in 1992, a new locker room was built under the south stands. The new building also has a training room with x-ray machine and a post-game interview room on the first floor. The second floor contains men's and women's restrooms that have never been used since there is no access to them from the south stands.

Along with the return to grass in 1995, the stadium also underwent other changes. Brick was added to the wall separating the field and stands. A grass embankment was built around the field, covering the original box seats which had gone unused for years because of poor sightlines.

In 1996, the first-ever night game was played at Faurot Field with permanant lights (portable lights were used for the 1992 Colorado game televised on ESPN). The new lighting allows for greater flexibility with TV and September heat concerns.

One year later, Memorial Stadium underwent a major $12 million overhaul. The parking lot surrounding the stadium was paved for the first time, new restrooms and concession stands were built, and the concourse was repaved in concrete. Also included in the renovations was a Diamond Vision video scoreboard at the north end.

As a way to increase revenue for the athletic department, a new $13.1 million press box was built in 2000, tripling the size of its predecessor. The new press box has an expanded Tiger Lounge and working press area, along with 36 private suites.

In 2003, with advancements made in artificial turf technology, the decision was made to replace the natural grass once again, but this time with FieldTurf. This newer surface is held down with finely grained rubber pellets and has yet to cause similar problems as the OmniTurf.

Original plans called for the stadium to eventually seat near 100,000 people. It still remains to be seen if that will ever happen. But Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium still stands as one of the best places to watch college football in the country.

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