Savage Stadium
Encyclopedia
The Oberlin College
football
complex, including Savage Stadium and Dill Field is a 3,000-seat outdoor, grass field football stadium
which hosts primarily Oberlin's varsity football home games. It was formerly the site of Oberlin's home soccer and lacrosse
matches as well as track and field
meets and includes a seven-lane all-weather running track. However, since the completion of the Fred Shults Soccer Field and Robert Kahn Track in the Fall of 2006, the stadium has been used primarily for football.
of Cleveland was the architect. The construction was made possible by subscriptions from 826 alumni, present students, and others, who provided funds for the erection of 1,750 seats at $12.50 per seat. These subscribers, known as "Stadium Builders," were given the privilege of purchasing seats for a period of years in the central preferred section of the stand. The new stands were ready for use in October 1925.
The stadium was named for former athletic director Charles W. Savage, who served the college from 1905 to 1918 and from 1920 to 1935. It was during his tenure that the College built several physical education facilities including the stadium.
The new Savage Stadium scoreboard, installed in 2007, was a gift from Robert Fishback '58, a three-sport Oberlin Athlete. The $55,000 scoreboard replaced an older model — also donated by Fishback, in 1987
The playing surface is natural grass, utilizing field paint to outline the 120 x 53.5 yard inbound area (including end zone
s) and yard lines. At the center of Dill field Oberlin's current athletics logo, the stylized letters O and C, is painted facing the seating. Surrounding Dill Field is a seven-lane all-weather outdoor rubber track. Until 2006, the track hosted all of the College's home track & field meets, as well some meets and practices for local area grade schools. The track has gone largely unused by the college since being replaced by Kahn Track in 2006 and has since fallen into disrepair.
The area directly underneath the stadium houses a concession stand, equipment storage, and locker rooms for six of Oberlin's mens sports teams: Football, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, track & field, and cross country
. It also features a guest locker room to host visiting teams in those sports.
Up until the Fall of 2006, Savage Stadium played host to most of the college's sports teams. Both men's and women's soccer teams, as well as the football team shared the field during the Fall sports season, often leaving the field little time to recover between games. Similarly, during the spring months, men's and women's lacrosse shared the field along with the college's track and field team.
Starting in the fall of 2006, the soccer and lacrosse teams began playing home games at Fred Shults Field, while Track and Field began to hold meets on Robert Kahn Track. By the 2007–08 school year, Savage Stadium hosted primarily football games, with a couple of lacrosse matches being the exception. Currently, the stadium is home exclusively to the football program.
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
complex, including Savage Stadium and Dill Field is a 3,000-seat outdoor, grass field football stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
which hosts primarily Oberlin's varsity football home games. It was formerly the site of Oberlin's home soccer and lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
matches as well as track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
meets and includes a seven-lane all-weather running track. However, since the completion of the Fred Shults Soccer Field and Robert Kahn Track in the Fall of 2006, the stadium has been used primarily for football.
Construction and naming
The contract to build the stadium was awarded on June 12, 1925 to the Van Blarcom Company of Cleveland. The Osborn Engineering CompanyOsborn Engineering
Osborn Engineering, is an architectural and engineering firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1892, it is noted mostly for designing sports stadiums...
of Cleveland was the architect. The construction was made possible by subscriptions from 826 alumni, present students, and others, who provided funds for the erection of 1,750 seats at $12.50 per seat. These subscribers, known as "Stadium Builders," were given the privilege of purchasing seats for a period of years in the central preferred section of the stand. The new stands were ready for use in October 1925.
The stadium was named for former athletic director Charles W. Savage, who served the college from 1905 to 1918 and from 1920 to 1935. It was during his tenure that the College built several physical education facilities including the stadium.
The new Savage Stadium scoreboard, installed in 2007, was a gift from Robert Fishback '58, a three-sport Oberlin Athlete. The $55,000 scoreboard replaced an older model — also donated by Fishback, in 1987
Facilities and setting
The stadium sits on the far North of the rural Oberlin College campus and is bordered by upperclassmen housing to the East and other athletic facilities to the North, South, and West. Savage stadium facilities include stadium seating for approximately 3,000 people and a press box, reserved for game-day announcers, coaches and statisticians, that holds up to 50.The playing surface is natural grass, utilizing field paint to outline the 120 x 53.5 yard inbound area (including end zone
End zone
In gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
s) and yard lines. At the center of Dill field Oberlin's current athletics logo, the stylized letters O and C, is painted facing the seating. Surrounding Dill Field is a seven-lane all-weather outdoor rubber track. Until 2006, the track hosted all of the College's home track & field meets, as well some meets and practices for local area grade schools. The track has gone largely unused by the college since being replaced by Kahn Track in 2006 and has since fallen into disrepair.
The area directly underneath the stadium houses a concession stand, equipment storage, and locker rooms for six of Oberlin's mens sports teams: Football, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, track & field, and cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
. It also features a guest locker room to host visiting teams in those sports.
1925–2006
Up until the Fall of 2006, Savage Stadium played host to most of the college's sports teams. Both men's and women's soccer teams, as well as the football team shared the field during the Fall sports season, often leaving the field little time to recover between games. Similarly, during the spring months, men's and women's lacrosse shared the field along with the college's track and field team.
2006–present
Starting in the fall of 2006, the soccer and lacrosse teams began playing home games at Fred Shults Field, while Track and Field began to hold meets on Robert Kahn Track. By the 2007–08 school year, Savage Stadium hosted primarily football games, with a couple of lacrosse matches being the exception. Currently, the stadium is home exclusively to the football program.