Jump to content

Riddick Stadium

Coordinates:35°47′05″N78°40′00″W/ 35.784748°N 78.66657°W/35.784748; -78.66657
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Riddick Stadium
Map
LocationRaleigh, North Carolina
OwnerNorth Carolina State University
OperatorNorth Carolina State University
Capacity23,000
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Opened1907
Closed1965
Demolished2005
Tenants
North Carolina StateWolfpack (NCAA) (1907–1965)

Riddick Stadium(opened 1907, closed 1965) was acollege footballstadium inRaleigh, North Carolina,and home to theNorth Carolina State UniversityWolfpack football team. When the stadium was first opened, it was referred to asNew Athletic Park.Later it was namedRiddick Fieldand then Riddick Stadium, afterW. C. Riddick,N.C. State football coach during the 1898 and 1899 seasons.[1]The Wolfpack baseball team also played its home games in the stadium prior to moving toDoak Field.

Prior to moving to the Riddick site, the Wolfpack had played their games at Athletic Park (nowPullen Park) and at theNorth Carolina State Fairgrounds.

The stadium initially had only woodenbleacherson thesidelines,but over the years concrete bleachers were built and a fieldhouse was erected behind the southend zone.The NC State Wolfpack defeated Florida State 3-0 in the final game ever played in Riddick Stadium on November 13, 1965.[2]

It was one of the smallest stadiums in the country; it never seated more than 23,000 people, and never had more than 14,000 permanent seats. By the 1950s, it was at the end of its useful life, and the Wolfpack were often forced to play more games on the road than at home.[3][4]

The stadium was partially demolished in 1968, three years after the opening of its replacement, Carter Stadium (nowCarter-Finley Stadium.[5]The east stands and the field were replaced by a parking lot, and the field house became the campus police station. The west stands remained and served a number of functions through the years, including a residence hall in the 1940s and the home of the University Planning office until their demolition in the summer of 2005. The former field house, the last remaining remnant of the stadium, was demolished in March 2013. SAS Hall, the new mathematics and statistics building, occupies the former site.

References

[edit]
  1. ^Historical State: History in Red and White."Riddick Stadium opens (10/14/1933)".Retrieved23 December2011.
  2. ^Historical State: History in Red and White."Final game at Riddick Stadium (11/13/1965)".Retrieved23 December2011.
  3. ^Longtime NCSU football coach dead at 88.Associated Press,February 26, 1997.
  4. ^"Maintaining a sense of place and history".NC State. Archived fromthe originalon September 26, 2011.RetrievedDecember 20,2010.
  5. ^Historical State: History in Red and White."Riddick Stadium demolished (4/19/1968)".Retrieved23 December2011.
[edit]

35°47′05″N78°40′00″W/ 35.784748°N 78.66657°W/35.784748; -78.66657