Stadium High School did not open in 1906!
There was no Bowl!
After spending $480,000 in 1891 currency, the building of a new hotel was halted.
The building stood vacant until a fire in 1898 left it a pile of bricks and steel.
After standing as a hulk visited by kids in obvious violation of yet to be passed safety laws, Savage & Scofield was let the contract to rip the building down. The materials were to be used to build railroad stations.
They tried to give the building to the University of Puget Sound, but the gift was refused.
Charles Drury, Conrad Hoska, Alfred Lister, and Alfred Lister suggested that it be made into a new high school.
The land was purchased for $34,000 and reconstruction began.
It cost $300,788.18 to rebuild and equip the building.
First classes were held in 1906.
This was the opening of Tacoma High School.
The architect, Fredrich Heath, was looking at "Old Woman's Gulch" next to the school and thought it would make a great stadium. While climbing through the gulch, Heath discovered a body of a man hanging from a tree. People decided it was time to clear out the area.
There were several small shacks in the gulch. Some of the residents refused to leave until their homes were sliced down the hill or were buried.
In 1910, the Stadium bowl was finished.
(See some photos and postcards here Stadium High School Pictures
The school was not renamed until Lincoln High School was built in 1913.
Tacoma High School then became Stadium High School.
A plaque was installed at the North stairway of the Stadium, commemorating the event.
In 1914 after the school board criticized the antics of the hooligans of the day (they did a snake dance in the bowl!) and stopped inter-city football games, the tablet was stolen.
This information came from Herbert Hunt's History of Tacoma.
Peter Callaghan, of The News Tribune, says the missing tablet may still be around!Read the story and stand by for the unfolding of the mystery.
It's the ultimate needle in a haystack
The Plaque's back!!!
White CD key to Stadium history mystery
CelebrateStadium.com
Posted 10:22 AM
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