Would have been awesome to live in the dorms right next to it. Assume they let people step out and come back in.
JTS Improvements - Want More
- Thread starter TOFB4ISU
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Clyde Williams Field held 35,000 seats- 5000 in west side & 10,000 in south which was all red when Huskers invaded. A cinder track encircled the field but ran under the south stadium and behind the north bleachers. Fans were loud when stadium was full which didn’t happen often. It was neat to have residence halls just outside the stadium.I was in the last all-male Cyclone Marching Bands when we only had 82 men tryout in 1970 and we marched 80 in Clyde Williams. In 1971, we had 100 men marching before women ’joined the next year but we had only 140 and 180 total band members in 1972 and 1973.
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Alright I declare you the ISU FB fan of all time. That is a amazing record.
Looking up historical pics of campus, and of CW field, I noticed a few things.
One that really stood out to me is a pic of CW with the very beginnings of Friley next to it, with open areas and the old baseball field next to it where Friley and Helser stand now.
It is strange to me that they decided as they expanded CW, they also expanded and continued to build the residence halls right next to the stadium. Friley, with the way it bent around and left the open area made a bit more sense but by building Helser the way they did, it completely eliminated options for expanding and upgrading the stadium in that location.
Maybe by the time Helser was built they had already decided they would need a new stadium in a new location sometime in the future so building like they did, did not matter.
Oklahoma State 1971: 54-0 in Ames after which Cyclones received Sun Bowl invitation (You’ve maybe seen the classic DSM Register “Big Peach” picture of Johnny Majors on the shoulders of his players after the game with the CWF press box in the background.)
LSU 1971: 15-33 in El Paso (Sun Bowl) It was my first airplane trip. I was a member of the 100-man Cyclone Marching Band.
Nebraska 1972: 23-23 in Ames
Nebraska 1976: 37-28 in Ames
Nebraska 1977: 24-21 In Lincoln
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There was already no place to expand west, short of buying out all the property owners along Sheldon and closing the street. So as the stadium grew, the only option was to do so in a lopsided fashion.
You can see how much different the west and east stands were in size during the last few years:
Although if they eliminated the track and sunk the field they would have had more room. But still was very limited, unless they shifted the entire stadium East before Helser was built.There was already no place to expand west, short of buying out all the property owners along Sheldon and closing the street. So as the stadium grew, the only option was to do so in a lopsided fashion.
You can see how much different the west and east stands were in size during the last few years:
I just thought they really crowded the stadium over time. It was not a great location. But they kind of made it worse as they continued to crowd it.
*** Meanwhile, KU put in a whole new weight room . . . . * * *
Troll job on Reddit (looks like by a MN Gopher too)
Troll job on Reddit (looks like by a MN Gopher too)
There was a point in the late Eighties or early Nineties when I feel like they should have bought out all those old rooming houses that were west of campus…before they got torn down for big apartment buildings.There was already no place to expand west, short of buying out all the property owners along Sheldon and closing the street. So as the stadium grew, the only option was to do so in a lopsided fashion.
You can see how much different the west and east stands were in size during the last few years:
After all, the University already had a toehold with Westgate Hall.
And I miss the lilacs that were by Ross Hall.
LOL yeah I posted that on another thread here. Its an old article, from like 5 years ago, but its still hilarious.
It also shows that KU has been saying they are going to upgrade facilities for many years only to delay delay delay. That $300M stadium project has been in the works for like 15 years.
It is a little strange going through some of that area now, the way the tall apartment buildings hug both sides of Lincoln way. And the other old houses along the streets that have been replaced by apartment buildings.
I remember living in Helser and spending time every night flipping my car from one side of the street to the other, in those neighborhoods, because I didn't want to leave it in the stadium lots all week, a lot of the time.
Infrastructure phase 1 starting after football season.
That is a crazy picture. Friley just a small building. No Beyer. No Town Engineering. Most of the buildings here are either expanded big time or gone.
That still looks better than Kansas is today. I wonder what the capacity was.There was already no place to expand west, short of buying out all the property owners along Sheldon and closing the street. So as the stadium grew, the only option was to do so in a lopsided fashion.
You can see how much different the west and east stands were in size during the last few years:
I love these old vintage pics of Clyde Williams Field. Wasn't that long ago either. I love our current set up today. Keeps getting better.
I read somewhere that it seated 35K... which is still more than KU gets today.
