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Legion Field is a stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events. The stadium is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans. Since the 2004 removal of the upper deck, Legion Field seats approximately 71,594 spectators. At its peak it seated 83,091 people for football and had the name "Football Capital of the South" emblazoned from the facade on its upper deck. Legion Field is colloquially called "The Old Grey Lady" and "The Grey Lady on Graymont". The stadium's current primary tenant are the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers, who are currently on a two-year hiatus. ==Stadium history== Construction of a 21,000 seat stadium began in 1926 at the cost of $439,000. It was completed in 1927 and named Legion Field in honor of the American Legion. In the stadium's first event, 16,800 fans watched Howard College (now known as Samford University) shut out Birmingham-Southern College 9-0 on November 19, 1927. Over the years, the stadium grew. Ironically, it didn't follow its designer's initial intent in becoming a monumental horseshoe-shaped amphitheater though. 〔"(New stadiums: Old Gray Lady and others )" (September 25, 2015) StadiumDB.com〕 Capacity was increased to 25,000 in 1934 and to 45,000 in 1948. The bowl was enclosed. In 1961, a 9,000 seat upper deck was added to the east side of the stadium, increasing capacity to 54,600. In 1965, a new press box was built in the stadium and capacity was further increased to 68,821. In 1969, lights were added to the stadium to allow for night games, and Legion Field hosted the first nationally televised night game.〔"(History Fades Away at Legion Field )" (November 5, 2004)ESPN〕 In 1970, the natural grass turf was replaced with Poly-Turf, which was replaced by Astroturf in 1975. Seating capacity was increased to 75,808 in 1977 and further increased to 83,091 in 1991. The turf was changed to Bermuda grass in 1995 in order to host soccer events for the Summer Olympics taking place in Atlanta.〔(1996 Summer Olympics official report. ) Volume 1. p. 541.〕 In 2006, the field went back to an artificial surface, Field Turf. In 2004, a structural evaluation determined that the 9,000 seat upper deck would need major remediation to meet modern building codes. With little prospect of adequate repairs on the way, the University of Alabama withdrew the few home games it still scheduled for Birmingham.〔"(Alabama forced to abandon unsafe Legion Field )" (August 19, 2003) Associated Press〕 The city removed the upper deck in 2005 since the capacity was greater than the need for its tenants. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Legion Field」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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