Weingart Stadium (formerly ELAC Stadium) is a 20,355-seat multipurpose stadium located at East Los Angeles College, in Monterey Park, California. It was built in 1951 at a cost of $3.1 million, and following renovations in 1984 it was renamed after philanthropist Ben Weingart.
Also, in 1984 it hosted all Olympic field hockey matches. US Field Hockey played a home game here in 1990. The Los Angeles Salsa soccer club called Weingart home in the early 1990s. It is one of the only mid-size stadiums in the western United States that is retrofitted with turf-playing surface certified by the Federation International de Football Association (FIFA).
In the film Forrest Gump, special effects were used to turn ELAC's Weingart Stadium into the University of Alabama's football stadium. Using digital FX, a small crowd which was filmed at ELAC, appears to fill the entire stadium.
Today, although it remains home to the East Los Angeles College football team, it is best known as the site of the annual Garfield High School–Roosevelt High School football game, better known as the East Los Angeles Classic, which has been responsible for the Stadium's largest crowds, numbering over 25,000. (There are only 2,000 standing room only spots at the stadium, bringing its capacity to 22,355).
Commencement ceremonies for Alhambra High School in Alhambra and other neighboring high schools are traditionally held at Weingart Stadium.
Famous quotes containing the word stadium:
“It’s no accident that of all the monuments left of the Greco- Roman culture the biggest is the ballpark, the Colosseum, the Yankee Stadium of ancient times.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)