Harvard Stadium

Harvard Stadium is a U-shaped college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned and operated by Harvard University and is home to the Harvard Crimson football program. In its current form, Harvard Stadium seats just over 25,000^[5] spectators.

Location

95 N. Harvard Street
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

Harvard University

25,000 (1952–present)

Former capacity:

List

- 57,166 (1929–1951)
- 42,000 (1904–1928)
- 20,000 (1903)^[3]

FieldTurf (2006–present)
Natural grass (1903–2005)^[1]

July 1903

November 14, 1903
121 years ago

$310,000
($10.5 million in 2023^[2])

Louis J. Johnson,
Class of 1887

60 N. Harvard St., Boston, Massachusetts

42°21′59″N 71°7′38″W / 42.36639°N 71.12722°W / 42.36639; -71.12722

11 acres (4.5 ha)

1903

McKim, Charles F.; Et al.

Classical Revival

87000757^[4]

February 27, 1987

Built in 1903, it was a pioneering execution of reinforced concrete in the construction of large structures. Because of its early importance in these areas, and its influence on the design of later stadiums, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.^[6] The stadium is the nation's oldest permanent concrete structure dedicated to intercollegiate athletics. It seated up to 57,166 in the past, as permanent steel stands (completing a stadium shape)^[7] were installed in the stadium's northeast end zone in 1929. They were torn down after the 1951 season, due to deterioration and reduced attendance. Afterward, there were smaller temporary steel bleachers across the stadium's open end until the building of the Murr Center (which is topped by the new scoreboard) in 1998.

Harvard Stadium hosted one Boston Patriots season in 1970. It was their first season in the NFL after the AFL–NFL merger and their last before becoming the New England Patriots. The team moved to Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough the following season.

Location[edit]

Although most of Harvard's campus is in Cambridge, the stadium and most other intercollegiate athletic facilities, along with Harvard Business School, lie to the south, across the Charles River, in the nearby Allston neighborhood of Boston. The stadium is the most iconic piece of the Soldiers Field athletic complex, which also includes the baseball stadium, outdoor track, an artificial turf field hockey/lacrosse field, two soccer stadiums, pools, Beren Tennis Center (outdoor), the Gordon Indoor Track, Dillon Fieldhouse, Lavietes Pavilion, and Bright Hockey Center. Newell Boathouse, home of Harvard's men's crew, lies across Soldiers Field Road on the banks of the Charles.

The stadium's horseshoe opens to the northeast, towards the river, and the press box is at the top of the northwest sideline's grandstand. The running track has been removed; it was non-standard, with long straights and tight turns, and the outside lanes were very near the stadium walls.