Kezar Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kezar Stadium | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | 755 Stanyan Street San Francisco, California 94117 |
| Broke ground | 1924 |
| Opened | May 2, 1925 |
| Owner | The City and County of San Francisco |
| Operator | San Francisco Recreation and Park Department |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $300,000 USD (original structure) |
| Architect | Willis Polk |
| Tenants | |
| San Francisco 49ers (NFL) (1946-1970) Oakland Raiders (AFL) (1960) San Francisco Dragons (MLL) (2006—) California Victory (USL-1) (2007—) |
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| Capacity | |
| 59,942 (1925-1989) 9,044 (1990-present} |
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Kezar Stadium is a stadium located in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers of the NFL and the current home of the San Francisco Dragons of the MLL and the California Victory of the USL First Division. It also hosts amateur and recreation sports leagues, as well as numerous San Francisco high school football games (including the City Championship, known popularly as the "Turkey Bowl").
[edit] History
In 1922 the San Francisco Park Commission accepted a $100,000 gift from the estate of Mary Kezar. The gift was intended to build a memorial in honor of Kezar's mother and uncles who were pioneers in the area. After the City and County of San Francisco appropriated an additional $200,000 the stadium was built in a year. Dedication ceremonies were held on May 2, 1925 and featured a two-mile footrace between Ville Ritola and Paavo Nurmi of Finland, who was one of the greatest runners of its day.
The stadium had many uses in the 1930's. In addition to track and field competitions, Kezar Stadium also hosted motorcycle racing, auto racing, rugby, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, boxing and football. The stadium was also the home field of several local schools such as Santa Clara University, University of San Francisco, St. Mary's College of California and the now defunct San Francsico Polytechnic High School. In 1926 the Stadium also became the home of the East-West Shrine Game.
In the 1928 city championship game between San Francisco Polytechnic and Lowell High School a crowd of over 50,000 people saw the matchup between the bitter cross-town rivals. That game still holds attendance records for a high school football game in Northern California.
Kezar Stadium was also the home to two different professional football teams. The San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders both began their existence at the stadium. The Raiders played in San Francisco venues until a suitable facility was built in Oakland. The 49ers moved to a more modern and accessible stadium at Candlestick Park in 1971 after losing the 1970 NFC Championship Game to the Dallas Cowboys, 17-10, on January 3, 1971 in their final game at Kezar.
Several scenes from the film Dirty Harry were filmed there later in 1971.
With the loss of professional football in the 1970's the stadium became an outdoor concert venue with many well known acts of its time performing there. Its proximity to the Haight-Ashbury District probably helped with the stadium's transformation to concert venue. Noted musicians who performed at Kezar included Led Zeppelin, The Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Joan Baez, The Grateful Dead, Carlos Santana and Neil Young. After suffering extensive damage in the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 it was rebuilt with a much smaller seating capacity. The upgrades included an eight lane, all weather track and a large grass athletic field suitable for soccer, football and lacrosse. With the 2006 West Coast expansion of Major League Lacrosse, Kezar Stadium once again became a home to a professional team, the San Francisco Dragons. In October of 2006, United Soccer Leagues (USL) and Spanish Football club Deportivo Alaves announced that the new pro soccer team, named California Victory, would play their 2007 home games at Kezar. The Victory will play in the USL's First Division, one level below Major League Soccer.
In 2004, it served as the home of the San Francisco Freedom, the city's Pro Cricket team.
[edit] External links
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- Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
- Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
- History and Photos
- The History of Kezar Stadium by Rick Williams
- San Francisco Dragons homepage
- SF Stadiums: Kezar Stadium
- Stadiums of the NFL: Kezar Stadium
| Preceded by first stadium |
Home of the San Francisco 49ers 1946–1970 |
Succeeded by Candlestick Park 1971–present |
| Preceded by first stadium |
Home of the Oakland Raiders 1960 |
Succeeded by Candlestick Park 1961 |
| Current Stadiums in Major League Lacrosse |
||
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | |
|---|---|---|
| Georgetown Multi-Sport Field | Harvard Stadium | Mitchel Athletic Complex PAETEC Park | Villanova Stadium | Yurcak Field |
The Home Depot Center | INVESCO Field at Mile High | Kezar Stadium | Toyota Park |
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| Current Stadiums in the USL First Division |
||
| Silverbacks Park | Kezar Stadium | SAS Soccer Park | Blackbaud Stadium | Tropical Park Stadium | James Griffin Stadium | Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard | PGE Park | Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium | PAETEC Park | Qwest Field | Swangard Stadium | Virginia Beach Sportsplex | ||
Categories: American Football League venues | Buildings and structures in San Francisco | Golden Gate Park | Defunct college football venues | Lacrosse venues | Defunct National Football League venues | High school football venues | San Francisco Dons football | Sports in San Francisco | Sports venues in California | Sports venues in the San Francisco Bay Area | Cricket grounds in the United States
