Don’t get me wrong, I love Nile Kinnick like any loyal Hawkeye fan and true American patriot does. But “Iowa Stadium” would be a much better name. It’s simple and powerful. Think “Ohio Stadium” or “Michigan Stadium” or “Notre Dame Stadium”. I think Kinnick should be honored obviously, I just wish in 1972 Mr. Schrader from the Gazette would have thought of a different way.

I like it better now. I think the renovations to the stadium itself have preserved its original look while making the bathrooms much less smellier.

What a great place.

Also note the other differences. The University Hospital and Clinics was a lot smaller back then. There was actually open spaces between the stadium and the Fieldhouse. Remember the tennis courts south of the stadium? No development north of the stadium with all the trees there. And more parking spaces north of the Fieldhouse.

They have done a great job keeping the traditional feel of an historic stadium with the needs of the modern game. i wouldn’t trade this stadium for any other it reminds me of Wrigley Field. I’ve always liked the laid back fans and family atmosphere of gameday.

Obviously, a Kinnick game is a near-urban experience now, but I have to say that the University has done a pretty good job with the dramatic increase in density. In the old days, though, a 10 year-old boy could walk the mile or two to the game by himself, no adults hovering nearby, buy a knothole ticket or sell popcorn to get in, and race around the stadium (it was rarely full), and slide down those grass sections in each corner when it rained. The men would attend the games, and downtown would have a lot of out-of-town wives shopping at Younkers and Things and Things.

Everything was just a lot more low-key. You could sneak into the fieldhouse most days and nights because it wasn’t locked up like a shopping mall, and summer mornings might be spent shooting hoops or watching the scholarship basketball players in their pickup games.

I don’t have any issue with New Kinnick, but one. The virtue of Old Kinnick was the absence of all this NFL-style music and tacky promotions. The music was provided by the band, and burritos were not pitched over the sound system.

Weber was a very cool guy and his Iowa City histories are recommended. They are a series of columns that the then-editor of the P-C commissioned, prior to Weber compiling them in his books. You can usually find a few used copies (there are five volumes) around IC or on Amazon.

Two weeks after I got my driver’s license I was dropping of my friend Alan at his house over in University Heights and showing off my ability to back up really, really fast. Oh, I could back up fast. Very very fast. There was exactly one car parked on the street, Armand Pagliai’s, and I hit that Chevy Nova so hard with my little Datsun that the Nova rolled 20 feet down the street despite being in “PARK” with the brake on. Armand stepped out side with his dad and younger brother and said, “Hmmm. Anyone call the police yet?” Only he used the 70′s epithet for police, which we don’t use any more. (The Paglia boys also wore leather jackets, if I recall, and were considered not to be messed with.) Armand remains behind the counter whenever I am visiting Iowa City, and Pagliai’s remains the cleanest pizza restaurant I have ever seen. There’s some awfully good pizza in NYC, but I prefer Pagliai’s.

How long before Kinnick Stadium becomes Mediacom Stadium or some other corporate name? Don’t think for a minute it can’t happen.

That picture was most likely taken sometime during the period 1951-1955. In May 1956, construction began on the addition of 9,000 seats in the south end zone. The project was completed in the fall of 1956.