Houseman Field is a 10,000-seat multipurpose stadium located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is named for former mayor and Congressman Julius Houseman and is the home of the Aquinas College Saints track teams. It is also used for high school football. Grand Rapids Public Schools owns this stadium.
Houseman's daughter, Hattie donated 6 acres (24,000 m2) of land to the school district in 1907 for use as an athletic field; while it would be used for the Grand Rapids Central High School football team's football practices in the next fifteen years, it wasn't until 1923 that the current stadium was built on that site; its first event was Central's 42-0 victory over Sparta High School. Grand Rapids Central is currently the longest serving tenant of Houseman Field; other high schools, including Creston High School, Catholic Central High School and West Catholic High School also play their home games at this stadium, owing to the growing number of high schools in Grand Rapids.
The football field was expanded in 1926; lights were installed in 1940 and artificial turf replaced grass in 1973. Other renovations have been minor.
In October 2008, the Grand Rapids Public Schools' Board of Education announced plans to perform a $6 million renovation to Houseman Field using dollars left over from a 2004 Facilities Improvement Bond. The renovation included turf replacement, a new press box, concession and restroom facilities, as well as miscellaneous building and technology improvements. The newly-renovated facility was reopened on August 25, 2009.
Famous quotes containing the word field:
“The planter, who is Man sent out into the field to gather food, is seldom cheered by any idea of the true dignity of his ministry. He sees his bushel and his cart, and nothing beyond, and sinks into the farmer, instead of Man on the farm.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)