Cleveland Stadium
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| Image:Clevelandstadium2.jpg | |
| Location | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Opened | July 1, 1931 |
| Closed | December 17, 1995 |
| Capacity | 78,000 |
| Owned By | City of Cleveland |
| Architect: |
F.R. Walker of Walker & Weeks |
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Dimensions:
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Cleveland Stadium (also known as Municipal Stadium, Cleveland Municipal Stadium and The Mistake on (or by) the Lake) was a baseball and American football stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. The stadium sat 78,000 for both football and baseball - though as many as 86,000 crowded in for some games. Built under the watch of city managers William R. Hopkins and Daniel E. Morgan, it was designed by the architecture firm of Walker and Weeks and Osborn Engineering, and featured an early use of structural aluminium. The Donald Gray Gardens were installed on the stadium's north side in 1936 as part of the Great Lakes Exposition.
The stadium was opened on July 1, 1931, and hosted a heavyweight boxing match between Max Schmeling and Young Stribling two days later. Local lore - apparently incorrect - states that the stadium was built in a failed bid to attract the 1932 Summer Olympics, which went to Los Angeles. Rather, it was apparently built to host high school and college football games and for the Cleveland Indians. The Indians played night and weekend games at the stadium from 1932 until 1947 - still playing weekday games at League Park, which lacked lights - and then all of their games from then until the beginning of the 1994 season, when the team moved to Jacobs Field. The stadium was so cavernous due to the dual setup for baseball and football that an inner fence was constructed in 1947 to cut down the size of the field. No player ever hit a home run into the center field bleachers, nearly 480 feet away. According to his own autobiography, Veeck - As in Wreck, Indians' owner Bill Veeck would move the fence in or out, varying by as much as 15 feet, depending on how it would favor the Indians, a practice that ended when the American League specifically legislated against moving fences during the course of a given season.
The facility, located just across the street from Lake Erie, was known for the biting cold winds that would blow into the stadium in winter and, for that matter, during much of the spring and fall. Hot summer nights would compensate by attracting swarms of midges and mayflies. In its later years it was known as the "Mistake On The Lake," and came in for its fair share of lampoonings in an age when the entire city of Cleveland was ridiculed. The facility, however, had its glorious and humorous moments. In 1948, the Indians won the American League pennant and World Series behind pitcher Bob Feller and shortstop/playing manager Lou Boudreau. In 1949, after the Indians lost the pennant to the New York Yankees, they buried their 1948 flag in the outfield. In 1954 the Indians again won the American League pennant, winning a then-record 111 games, under manager Al Lopez and behind an outstanding pitching staff led by Bob Lemon. They were swept, however, by the New York Giants in the World Series. On four separate occasions, it hosted the 1935, 1954, 1963 and 1981 All-Star Games. On its last day as home of the Indians on October 3, 1993, the team's fans, led by comedian Bob Hope (who grew up an Indians fan and was once a part-owner), who sang a version of his theme song, "Thanks For The Memories", with special lyrics for the occasion (as he was wont to do on many of his television shows), bade farewell to the old stadium.
The NFL's Cleveland Browns began playing at the facility in 1946, and played there until 1995. The center field bleachers were home to many of the club's most avid fans, and became known during the 1980s as the Dawg Pound after the barks that fans made to disrupt opposing teams' offensive plays. Some of the fans even wore dog masks.
The only college football Great Lakes Bowl was held there in 1947.
In addition to sporting events, the stadium hosted a number of rock concerts, including a 1966 concert by The Beatles. A series known as the World Series of Rock was held in the 1970s, featuring big-name acts, including The Rolling Stones. The inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert was held in the stadium in 1995.
The Stadium was an economic drain on the City of Cleveland, which owned it and originally operated it throughout its life. In the mid 1970s the Browns owner Art Modell agreed to lease the facility for $1.00 per year. Modell's company, Stadium Corporation, took over operations and invested in improvements, including luxury suites. The suites were quite lucrative for Modell and generated substantial revenue for him. Modell refused to share the suite revenue with the Indians baseball team, even though quite a bit of the revenues were generated during baseball games. Eventually the Indians prevailed upon the local governments and voters and convinced them to build them their own facility where they would control the suite revenue. Modell, believing that his revenues were not endangered, refused to participate in the Gateway Project that built Jacobs Field for the Indians and Gund Arena for the Cavs. Modell's assumptions proved incorrect and the suite revenues declined when the Indians moved from the stadium to Jacobs Field in 1994. The following year, Modell decided to move the football team to Baltimore, Maryland after the 1995 season.
Modell's move of the team actually breached the team's lease and so the City of Cleveland sued. The stadium was demolished the next year - and the pieces were literally taken across the street and dumped in the lake, so as to create an artificial reef for fisherman and divers.
New Cleveland Browns Stadium now stands on the site.