The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-08-11
TO SEAT FIFTEEN THOUSAND
NEWAMPHITHEATER TO SURROUND
YALE FOOTBALL FIELD.


VIII be Erected at a Cost Of From $40, 900
to $12,0Oo-when Com pleted VIII be the
Best In the Country Change in FRESH
man Gridiron-New Property Acouired-
Entrance to be Made More Accessible,
Extensive improvements in the lay
out of the football gridiron at Yale field
have been commenced, and by the time
college opens, the last Of September,
Yale will have the best football field in
the country, costing from $4,000 to $12.-
900.
These extensive improvements, which
are being made by the Yale Athletic
association, are rendered absolutely
essential by the recent change in Yales
athletic policy whereby her big games
of baseball and football with Harvard
and Princeton will be played on college
grounds and not at Springfield and
New York, as in former years. In ac-
cordance with this policy, Yale will
meet Harvard at football at Cambridge
this fall, while the Yale-Princeton tus-
sic over the pigskin will be at the Yale
field.
AS at present arranged, the field is
utterly inadequate to accommodate the
tremendous crowd which Is sure to be-
here to witness the battle Of the giants.
The improvements now under way in
clude some changes in the layout of the
old football gridiron and in the erection
of new bleachers all around it with
seating capacity of fifteen thousand.
The location Of the gridiron will be
moved further west from the grand
stand to furnish room for the bleach
ers, and will be made perfectly level
and smooth.
The Athletic association, in order to
have more room in which to carry out
it's plans, has purchased of Charles H.
Webb strip Of land to the west and
adjoining that portion Of the field along
the Derby turnpike. This strip is Ito
feet wide and 500 feet long. The land
thus purchased is considerably below
the level Of the Yale field, and has an
orchard Of apple trees upon It. The
trees will be removed and the land will
be graded up to the level Of the field.
The old dwelling house which also stood
upon the land has been moved further
west by the st. Lawrence Cemetery as
sociation which has purchased the re-
mainder Of the property, and will ba
fitted UP for a dwelling and office for
the sexton Of the cemetery. This pur-
chase will make en- entrance for the
cemetery on the Derby turnpike, and
the footpath to the cemetery across
the Yale field will be discontinued.
A portion Of the new land has already
been filed in, levelled and nicely turfed.
This work has been done by A. N.
Farnham, the Westville florist. Bids
for the rest of the filling and grading
were received Monday but have not
yet been awarded. The land will have
to be raised from one to three and one
half feet. and will require about 10000
cubic yards Of earth. The specifications
require that this work shall be COM
pleted by September IL.
A space 330x16O feet is set apart fer
the gridiron and the bleachers. The
bleachers will completely enclose tile
gridiron and will be separated from 1t
by close board fence three feet IN
height to keep back the crowd from
the field. At present some Of the old
bleachers from the east side Of the
grand stand are being moved to posi-
ton back Of the south goal posts, but
these will all be supplanted by new
ones early in the season. Specifications
for the Joiner work are already out.
Hydrants have been placed at the
four corners of the field and connected
with two-inch main, SO that the
ground can be kept as wet as is neces-
sary.
| Another change made at the field Is
the removal of the freshman football
ground from the baseball diamond to a
position east of the grand stand and
covering portion of the ground occu-
| pied by the bleachers which are being
removed The surveys for this grid
iron were made by Engineer Hill. This
change will prevent the cutting up OF
| the baseball diamond, as has been the
case in past years.
| OF course the bleachers will be re-
stored when the baseball season opens.
The entrance to the field will be moved
| about one hundred feet further west to
| place much more accessible to the en-
| tire field, and the old entrance will be
discontinued for most purposes. The
| land between the fence and the Derby
| turnpike has been levelled, forming a
sidewalk where people can walk with
safety.
The new land purchased cost about
81, 900, and the cost of fitting it up will
be about $4,000 or 100000. George 6.
Reynolds, the superintendent of the
field, has the general supervision Of the
work.