Aloha Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Aloha Stadium | |
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| Location | 99 Salt Lake Blvd Aiea, HI 96701 |
| Opened | September 12, 1975[1] |
| Owner | State of Hawaiʻi |
| Operator | Stadium Authority, State of Hawaiʻi |
| Surface | FieldTurf[2] |
| Construction cost | US$37 million[3] |
| Architect | The Luckman Partnership, Inc.[4] |
| Tenants | Hawaiʻi Warriors (NCAA) (1975–present) Hawaiʻi Islanders (PCL) (1975–1987) Team Hawaiʻi (NASL) (1977) Pro Bowl (NFL) (1980–present) Hula Bowl (NCAA) (1975–1997, 2006–) Aloha Bowl (NCAA) (1982–2000) Oʻahu Bowl (NCAA) (1998–2000) Hawaiʻi Bowl (NCAA) (2002–present) |
| Capacity | 50,000[5] |
| Field dimensions | Baseball:[6] Left Field – 325 ft Center Field – 420 ft Right Field – 325 ft |
Aloha Stadium is a stadium located in ʻAiea, Hawaiʻi. Currently Aloha Stadium is home to the University of Hawaiʻi Warriors football team (Western Athletic Conference, NCAA Division I FBS). It has also been home to the National Football League's Pro Bowl since 1980 and the NCAA's Hula Bowl from 1975 to 1997 and again in 2006. It also hosts numerous high school football games during the season, and serves as a venue for large concerts and events. A swap meet in the stadium's parking lot every weekend draws large crowds.[1] Aloha Stadium once served as home field for the AAA Hawaiʻi Islanders of the Pacific Coast League from 1975 to 1987 before the team moved to Colorado Springs.
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[edit] Facility
Located west of downtown Honolulu and two miles north of Honolulu International Airport, Aloha Stadium was built in 1975 at a cost of $37 million. It was intended as a replacement for the aging Honolulu Stadium on King Street, demolished in 1976.
In 2003, the stadium surface was changed from AstroTurf (which had been in place since the stadium opened) to FieldTurf.[2]
Aloha Stadium could be reconfigured into various configurations for different sport venues and other purposes, and was the first stadium in the United States with this capability. Four movable sections, each 3.5 million pounds[5] and with a capacity of 7,000, could move using air cushions into a diamond configuration for baseball (also used for soccer), an oval for football, or a triangle for concerts. However, in January 2007, the stadium was permanently locked into its football configuration, citing cost and maintenance issues.[7]
There have been numerous discussions with State of Hawaiʻi lawmakers who are concerned with the physical condition of the stadium. There are several issues regarding rusting of the facility, several hundred seats that need to be replaced, and restroom facilities that need to be expanded to accommodate more patrons.[3]
In early 2007, the state legislature proposed to spend $300 million to build a new facility as opposed to spending approximately $216 million to extend the life of Aloha Stadium for another 20-30 years. The new stadium would also be used to lure a potential Super Bowl to Hawaiʻi in the near future.[8] One council member has said that if immediate repairs are not made within the next seven years, then the stadium will probably have to be demolished due to safety concerns. In May 2007, the state alloted $12.4 million to be used towards removing corrosion and rust from the structure.[9]
[edit] History
The first sporting event ever held at Aloha Stadium was a football game played between the University of Hawaii and Texas A&I on September 13, 1975. The attendance was 32,247.[10]
[edit] Events
In 1997, a three-game regular season series between Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres was held at the stadium.[11] The series was played in with a doubleheader on April 19 and a nationally broadcast (ESPN) game on April 20. In 1975, the Padres had played an exhibition series against the Seibu Lions of Japan's Pacific League.
Aloha Stadium has also been used for large-scale concerts, including The Police in their final US concert on their Synchronicity Tour in 1984, The Rolling Stones on their Bridges to Babylon Tour in 1998, Celine Dion on her Let's Talk About Love Tour in 1999, and the final shows of Mariah Carey's Butterfly World Tour in 1998, Michael Jackson's HIStory World Tour in 1997, the final stops on U2's Vertigo Tour in 2006 and Janet Jackson's All for You Tour in 2002, which was broadcast on HBO as well as her 1999 Velvet Rope World Tour which broke stadium attendance records.
Aloha Stadium hosted the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship (February 20-23, 2008), a knockout soccer tournament, involving four teams from Japan's J-League, North America's Major League Soccer (MLS) and Australia/New Zealand's A-League.[12]
Aloha Stadium officials hope to upgrade enough to help make a bid to host the Super Bowl in 2016.[13]
[edit] References
- ^ Aloha Stadium facts, alohastadium.hawaii.gov/
- ^ a b Masuoka, Brandon. "Aloha Stadium surface will be of NFL quality", The Honolulu Advertiser, 2003-04-29. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ a b Gima, Craig. "Stadium corrosion creates a $129M safety concern", The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 2006-01-27. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Muschamp, Herbert. "Charles Luckman, Architect Who Designed Penn Station's Replacement, Dies at 89", The New York Times, 1999-01-28. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ a b Hawaii Athletics facility description page, uhathletics.hawaii.edu
- ^ Clem's Baseball ~ Aloha Stadium
- ^ Masuoka, Brandon. "Aloha Stadium losing baseball configuration", The Honolulu Advertiser, 2006-07-28. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Reardon, Dave. "Super Dreams: Bringing the 50th Super Bowl to the 50th state would be costly", The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 2006-04-03. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Arakawa, Lynda. "Stadium rust to get $12.4M treatment", The Honolulu Advertiser, 2007-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Aloha Stadium Swap Meet "About Us" page, alohastadiumswapmeet.net
- ^ Arnett, Paul and Yuen, Mike. "Padres, Cardinals to play in Hawaii", The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1997-02-25. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Carlos Alvarez-Galloso, Roberto. "2008 Pan-Pacific Championship: Make it more inclusive", MeriNews, 2007-12-26. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ "Breakdown of cities vying for 2012 Super Bowl", NFL.com, 2008-05-20. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
[edit] External links
- Official site for Aloha Stadium
- Official site for Aloha Stadium Swap Meet
- Aloha Stadium - University of Hawaiʻi Athletics Dept.
| Preceded by Honolulu Stadium |
Host of the Hawaiʻi Warriors 1975 – present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by first stadium |
Host of the Hawaiʻi Bowl 2002 – present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
Host of the NFL Pro Bowl 1980 – present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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