Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium
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| Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium |
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|---|---|
| location = Don Nehlen Dr Morgantown, WV 26505 |
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| Location | {{{location}}} |
| Opened | September 6, 1980 |
| Owner | West Virginia Univ. |
| Operator | West Virginia Univ. |
| Surface | AstroPlay |
| Construction cost | $22 million |
| Tenants | |
| West Virginia Mountaineers (NCAA) (1980-Present),
West Virginia University Men's Lacrosse (Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association) |
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| Capacity | |
| 60,000 | |
Milan Puskar Stadium, in Morgantown, West Virginia, is the football stadium for West Virginia University. The facility's complete name is Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, although fans more commonly refer to it by its original name of Mountaineer Field.
The original Mountaineer Field was located on the school's downtown campus, but it could not be expanded or modernized due to the proximity of campus buildings and roads near the stadium. It seated 38,000 when it was last used in 1979. The new stadium was originally to be called Mountaineer Stadium, but the fans ignored this and called it New Mountaineer Field, with the "new" eventually falling into disuse.
Mountaineer Field was constructed in 1980 on the former site of a golf course between the Law School and Medical School buildings. The stadium's original cost was $22 million. Upon completion it had a seating capacity of 50,000. The stadium has been expanded as follows: in 1985 7,500 seats were added to the south end zone for $7.5 million, the next year 6,000 seats were added to the north endzone for $650,000, and in 2004 luxury suites were added for a cost of $12.1 million. The most recent expansion actually reduced the seating capacity by 3,500, so the current capacity is 60,000. Mountaineer Field is still the largest on-campus facility in the BIG EAST Conference. The facility received its current name in 2004 in honor of Milan Puskar, co-founder of generic drug manufacturer Mylan Laboratories and a longtime major donor to both WVU and its athletics program. There are five banks of lights located on the perimeter of the stadium and one long bank along the top of the press box. The current play surface was installed in 2002 and is Astroplay Synthetic Grass. There are 12 luxury seats on the first level of the press box, 18 in the north end zone, and 648 club seats in the north end zone called "Touchdown Terrace".
The Caperton Indoor Facility, opened in 1998, sits adjacent to Milan Puskar Stadium and provides a versatile, modern indoor workout space equipped with a 90-yard Astro-Turf 12 playing surface with seven yards of safety zone surrounding the entire field. Total length from wall to wall is 105 yards, with more than 75,000 square feet of practice room. Skylights provide natural lighting. The facility is also used by baseball and men's and women's soccer.
The stadium has occasionally hosted larger crowds than its listed capacity; the current attendance record is 70,222 against Miami on November 20, 1993. The listed capacity is larger than the population of any city in West Virginia and on game days, Morgantown temporarily becomes the largest city in West Virginia.
Mountaineer Field has also hosted non-university football games in the past. One notable game was a pre-season exhibition match on August 22, 1998 between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Atlanta Falcons, both National Football League teams. Old Mountaineer Field had also hosted an NFL game in 1968 between the Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The stadium is also the location where the annual "MoHawk Bowl" is played between Morgantown High School and University High School, the two public high schools located in Morgantown.
When the stadium was dedicated in the fall of 1980, fans were surprised when singer John Denver made an appearance and led the fans in the singing of his hit song Take Me Home, Country Roads. The song has been played at every Mountaineers home game since 1972. In recent years, the song has been the subject of a new tradition; after a Mountaineers win, the players lead the crowd in singing the song.
Denver's 1980 appearance marked the dedication of the new stadium as well as the first game for coach Don Nehlen.
Going into the 2007 football season, the stadium turf is being changed from AstroTurf to a more synthetic turf. The cost is estimated to be near $1 million dollars. The turf is said to be ready for the June football camp. Head coach Rich Rodriguez has promoted the new change of turf greatly.
Along with the new turf, additions to the touchdown terrace on the north side are being made. Constructions to completely enclose the terrace and add 180 extra seats are being made.
[edit] External links
| Football Stadiums of the Big East Conference |
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| Carrier Dome (Syracuse) • Heinz Field (Pittsburgh) • Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (West Virginia) • Nippert Stadium (Cincinnati) • Papa John's Cardinal Stadium (Louisville) • Raymond James Stadium (South Florida) • Rentschler Field (Connecticut) • Rutgers Stadium (Rutgers) |
