Nickerson Field Nickerson Field is a stadium on the site of Braves Field , in Boston , Massachusetts , the former home of the National League Boston Braves baseball team which is now located in Atlanta . Parts of Braves Field , such as the entry gate and right - field pavilion , remain as portions of the stadium . The stadium is now owned by Boston University , and is the home field for many of the school ' s athletics programs , including soccer and lacrosse . It was also the home of BU ' s football team until the school dropped the sport following the 1997 season . From the mid - 1980s to 1995 , the stadium hosted the New England Scholastic Band Association ' s marching band field show championships . Use by professional sports . Since its reconfiguration in the 1950s , six professional sports franchises have used this stadium : Configuration history . Boston University purchased the former home of the Braves on July 30 , 1953 and renamed it Boston University Field . The stadium inherited its current name from the school ' s previous athletic field , which had been in the town of Weston . That field was taken by eminent domain in 1955 for construction of Route 128 . BU used the proceeds , in part , to renovate the former baseball park and renamed it for William E . Nickerson , a member of the BU Board of Trustees who had donated the original field in Weston to BU in 1928 . According to the previously referenced article , Nickerson " was an MIT graduate who was the principal inventor of the machinery used to manufacture the first Gillette safety razor . " In 1955 , the Braves Field Grandstand , Left Field Pavilion , and Jury Box were demolished . The existing Right Field Pavilion was squared off on the west side and filled in on the east side where a section had been removed to accommodate the Braves Field right field foul pole and bullpens . The three buildings overlooking the field coincidentally suggest the outline of the original main grandstand section . The stadium has been the home of BU teams longer ( 50 - plus years ) than it was the home of the Braves ( parts of 38 seasons ) . In 1968 , the field underwent a renovation . The four Braves Field light towers were dismantled . That year BU became the second college in the United States to install " Astroturf " . The following year , not only did the BU football team practice on that field , so did the Boston College football team and the Boston Patriots . Both used the field to prepare for away games they would play on Astroturf fields . In 2001 antiquated turf was replaced with a newer , more player - friendly artificial surface as part of a deal with the Women ' s United Soccer Association to host the Boston Breakers games . With a professional soccer team playing at Nickerson the football lines , which had remained on the field even though BU no longer had a football program , were not repainted . In 1989 , to accommodate commencement speakers U . S . President George H . W . Bush and French President François Mitterrand , a large platform was constructed to Secret Service specifications on one side of the field . The platform , which can be seen in the bottom center of the color picture below , was removed during the summer of 2008 when the field was expanded and given a new turf .