Hancock Stadium

While going over the posts I noticed that someone did a blog about Redbird Arena but saw that Hancock Stadium had not yet been done. So I figured I would be the guy to do a blog about it. Hancock Stadium is just as important as Redbird Arena and any other building for that matter. Not much is known about the stadium to the students on campus except that it id the football field. Since I did not know much either I figured I might as well do it for a blog as another reason.

Hancock Stadium is actually a multi-purpose stadium because not only does it serve as their home filed for the Redbirds but also for the University High Pioneers. I know this because i have played football against them two times here before. Another item that the stadium is used for is the playing and practicing ground for the marching band of ISU which is named the Big Red Marching Machine. It was built to seat 9,500 people and it opened its doors in 1963. The stadium was named after former athletic director Dr. Howard Hancock. The artificial turf was not put in until1969 and became the first Illinois college to have artificial turf. Another item of importance that was added was the scoreboard as well as the turf. Now going back to high school football Hancock Stadium served as the playing field for the Illinois High School championships but in the modern day it no longer does that anymore.

As for the current day material you can thank Dr. Al Bowman and Dr. Sheahon Zenger. They are the ones responsible for the modern day renovations that were released in 2006. From the seats that spell out ISU in red to the scoreboard which was installed in 2007. The current amount of people that the stadium can hold is 24,000-25,000 people. Hopefully this was a good blog for all of you and I know you learned more about the stadium like I did.