History
The Doric-colonnaded amphitheater was built between Amsterdam and Convent Avenues, from 136th to 138th Street in 1915. Financier and philanthropist Adolph Lewisohn donated the money for construction. The stadium hosted many athletic, musical, and theatrical events and was one of New York's public landmarks. It was demolished in 1973 to make way for the $125 million North Academic Center.
Besides sporting events, the stadium was used for performances by Ella Fitzgerald, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic (sometimes called the "Stadium Symphony Orchestra"), Marian Anderson, and Eugene Ormandy. George Gershwin played his Rhapsody in Blue. Performers ranged from Van Cliburn, Jascha Heifetz, and Yehudi Menuhin to Leontyne Price, Pete Seeger, Thomas Hayward (tenor), Jack Benny, and conductor Kurt Adler of the Metropolitan Opera.
The stadium was annually used by City College (CCNY) for its commencement exercises - a single massive happening for all CCNY's Schools: Liberal Arts, Engineering & Architecture, and even CCNY's 23rd Str. (Manhattan) Business School - Now Baruch College, CUNY, this continued through the end of the 60's. Likewise it was used for CCNY's annual Army ROTC's end of academic year Reviews. Along with Jasper Oval (also now gone) which was across the street (Convent Avenue) it was used throughout the academic year for many/most of the College's uptown campus outdoor intramural sports.
Read more about this topic: Lewisohn Stadium
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