A Look Back At Ross Ade Stadium

In the early 1920’s Purdue was obviously not the campus that we know today. Things were moving in a direction though that would give us some of the iconic campus structures that we know. Dave Ross and George Ade had purchased the Tilt dairy farm for use as a recreational sports field. By the accounts of the time it was a run down farm that could be replaced with something else. Dave Ross saw the prospect of the field in a part of the land that formed a bowl. Dave Ross had a vision for Purdue then that would soon be realized. This land and the fund raising drive that would build the first stadium needed an ambitious plan to show what Purdue was and could be. Local architect Walter Scholer would come up with that plan, and for the next few decades design this campus. This really was the start of something pretty cool. The land was bought in 1922 and by 1924 Purdue was already playing in the new stadium. The first game was a win over Indiana which was a really good start to the stadium.

The Osborn Engineering Company

While Walter Scholer designed most of campus for the next few years the first edition of Ross Ade Stadium was designed by the Osborn Engineering Company. This firm has too many big stadiums to mention, but I will name a few. The first is Notre Dame Stadium a few years later. I grew up going to Notre Dame games, and this little fact is a really cool one that the same company designed both original stadiums. One cool fact is that this company designed League Park, Cleveland Municipal, and Jacobs Field for the Cleveland baseball club. Others include Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and  Tiger Stadium. They basically designed a lot of major stadiums back then. It is cool to look back and see Ross Ade Stadium in line with them.

My View Of Ross Ade

I made my first trip to Ross Ade Stadium in 1995. I was not sure about a trip to Purdue, but my friends convinced me so that I could watch a man named Alstott play. A couple of years later we had a guy named Brees that took Purdue to places that it hadn’t been in a while. That success led to the first of a few renovations of the field. This year from the inside nothing really looks that similar to that field that I visited in 1995. That is a great thing though. This program is growing and so is the field. It has been cool to witness this stadium growing up right in front of our eyes over the years. I have been coming here for football for almost thirty years now. I have to wonder what the next thirty years will hold for this old stadium.

Ten Years Ago Today

Things kind of worked out so that I could post this photo today as I learn a little bit more about this old stadium. Ten years ago today I had photographed a football game at Wabash. I was tired and kind of done for the day, but I went to my in-laws tailgate. I decided to buy a ticket to the game, and the girl at the ticket window seemed shocked that I would pick this seat so far away from the action for $70. I could have been much closer, but I wanted this exact view. Things really worked out for me with the great light and the blimp coming right into view. This photo changed a lot for me, and when Purdue played their next home game I was on the field making photos. Until last season I had a pass for every game since that time. It is not lost on me that ten years later Purdue has another night game with the start time being close to sunset. I have an idea for a different photo than I have made before. Hopefully it can come close to this photo. For years I hated this photo. I saw it so much everywhere that I went that I just wanted to see something else take its place. Years later though I can appreciate what that photo meant to where I am now.