Memorial Stadium (Champaign)

Memorial Stadium is a football stadium in Champaign, Illinois, in the United States, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The stadium is a memorial to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students who died in World War I; their names are engraved on the nearly 200 pillars surrounding the stadium's façade. The stadium is primarily used as the home of the University's football team.ConstructionIn the early 1920s, the old football stadium, Illinois Field, was deemed inadequate. There was some sentiment for retaining the site, but it was too congested to expand the stadium adequately, so a new site was selected, in a largely undeveloped area at the south end of the campus. George Huff and Robert Zuppke were responsible for pushing most of the fundraising for this project.Memorial Stadium was completed in 1923 at a cost of US$1.7 million. Its original U-shaped design borrows some form from the earlier constructed Harvard Stadium. The project's general contractor was English Brothers of Champaign, who are in business to this day. The name was chosen in honor of the dead from World War I. The original construction was financed with donations from University students, alumni, and others. At the time, the stadium consisted of double-decked stands on the east and west sidelines. The single-decked horseshoe around the south end zone was later completed, along with a large student section near the north end zone.