The San Francisco call., 1910-07-06
Citizens give
MONEY TO BUILD
ATHLETIC FIELD
"0ld WOman's Guich" Furnishes
Natural Site on Which TO
Construct Tiers
2,O0O Regular Troops to Take
Part in Carnival of Sports
on New Grounds
Especial Dispatch 10 The Call

4
TACOMA, July 5-The concrete sta
dunn which viii shortly be dedicated at
Tacoma is q monument to the enter
prise Of citizens Of that place who
backed up the IDEAS of the local board
Of education with 100000.
The stadium is an immense horse
shoe shaped excavation, built in a
guIch which sloped away directly be-
meath the Tacoma high school building
The open end Of the horseshoe faces
the bay, affording a splendid view of
water and mountains. The completed
plans call for a concrete. wall closing
in this open end.
SEATS 28,0eO PERSONS
The horseshoe is 400 feet long. At
its narrowest point it is .25o feet wide.
ana between the widest points $50
feet Surrounding this horseshoe shapeI
field, which is built on the floor Of
the gully. rise 81 tiers Of concrete
seats. representing a total length Of
6.42 miles Of concrete steps with seat
ing capacity for 26.O00 people.
The seats are concrete and steel CON
structon and represent 4,5O0 cubic
yards Of cement Ia building the steps
l4S tons Of structural steel was used.
In order to excavate room for the
stadium 10000 cubic yards of earth
We're removed from the sides of the
gully.
SUGGESTED PLAHFIELD
The first suggestion for stadium
was made to the school boarI bv
frederick Heath, the school architect,
I'm 1905 At that time Heath went be-
fore the board with the suggestion
that the guIch. known as old Woman,s
Soich, be cleared and filled sufficiently
10 make playground and athletic
Held Heath thought that a few
wooden benches might be built around
the sides of the field for the acconmo-
dstion Of spectators. The school board
approved of the idea. but thought that
concrete seats might be substituted.
giving the playfleld a more perma-
nent character. From this idea the
plan Tor stadium grew and expanded.
HAD MODEST BEGINNING
When work was first begun the
school board allowed the services of
four men TO DO the grading and clear
ing, and the Tacoma city council al
lowed the use Of a small amount OF
water for sluicing. For several months
work continued at this rate. and then
the firm Of Fitch. Talyor & Ander-
son proposed a simple plan of financing
the undertaking by having the high
school students sell 6. 600 i've year sea
son admission tickets at cost OF SO
apiece. This was the plan finally
adopted, and the money realized from
the sale OF these tickets, with indiviJ-
ual donations. paid for the building
Of the stadium. Private corporations
OF Tacoma were prominent donors of
funds. The high school athletic asso-
ciation contributed $4,000, realized from
the returns from athletic contests. The
result Of this donation by the athletic
association has furnished the high
school with an unexcelIed athletic field.
which has q running track 16 feet wide
and one-hfth of a mile long,
MILITARY TOURNAMENT
Dedication exercises are now being
planned for the stadium. An 'histor-
icaI pageant VIII be held, in which the
various phases of the history Of Pierce
county viii be depicted. A movement
is also on foot TO secure the next ma
tional Olympic games at Tacoma. the
people Of Tacoma believing they have
one Of the best arenas in America for
the purpose.
No proposed athletic carnival will
so Iul4y demonstrate the possibilities
Of the new stadium as the United
States military tournament which will
be held at Tacoma from July "a to
July 80. In this tournament 1900 reg
ular soldiers viii participate in stir
ring field maneuvers, horseback rid
ing, races, track athletics, wall seal
ing. broadsword contests, etc. This
contest viii be held under direction
Of the war department and under the
auspices Of the Tacoma chamber Of
commerce