Yale Bowl
The
Yale Bowl is a
football stadium in
New Haven, Connecticut. Completed in
1914, the stadium
seats 64,269 – reduced by renovations from the original capacity of 70,869. It is the home to the
Yale University football team (the "Bulldogs" or the "Elis"), and also hosted the
New York Giants from
1973–
1974 while
Yankee Stadium was being renovated and
Giants Stadium was under construction.
Ground was broken on the stadium in August of 1913. It was built into an enormous natural bowl located several miles west of Yale's main campus at The Walter Camp Field, with locker rooms located under the sidelines. It was the first natural bowl stadium in the country, and provided inspiration for the design of such stadiums as the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the
Rose Bowl, and
Michigan Stadium. (Yale's arch-rival, Harvard, has the first concrete stadium and first "horseshoe"-shaped
stadium, which is another major prototype for football stadia.) The current scoreboard (notable for the time clock being arranged vertically instead of horizontally) was added in 1958, and in 1986 the current press box was added. The facility was designed to partially echo the campus's
neogothic design. As such, parts of the façade were treated with acid to imitate the effects of aging, a procedure that has instead required constant upkeep and renovation to prevent deterioration. As of summer, 2005, many of the outside retaining walls and portal entries were deteriorating as a result.
The Connecticut Tennis Center (owned by Yale), home to the annual
ATP/
WTA event (the Pilot Pen tournament), is located across Yale Avenue from the stadium.
|
Gate 13 at the Yale Bowl. Note the deterioration of the concrete. |
|
The Yale Bowl's playing field. |
*
The Yale Bowl (from YaleBulldogs.com)
