Drake University announced the Drake Stadium Centennial Campaign, a $6 million project to revamp the Drake Stadium on Aug. 28 for its 100th anniversary. The project, according to a press release, will “preserve the legacy and ensure the future of one of America’s most iconic athletic venues.”
The campaign will be the first renovation of Drake Stadium since 2006. To Brian Hardin, the Drake director of athletics, these changes are coming at the perfect time.
“We’ve seen it after the 2006 [renovations], we saw a number of events coming here,” Hardin said. “We haven’t seen that happen here in about 10 to 15 years. And a big reason why is because our facility has fallen behind what other venues have, and so when they are able to bid on those events, they provide more of what those organizations, the NCAA and USATF, are looking for these days.”
Hardin believes the updates to Drake stadium will bring economic benefits to the Des Moines community as well.
“These changes will have Drake bringing thousands of people to our community, filling hotel rooms, filling restaurants, and it will have a significant economic impact on greater Des Moines,” Hardin said.
Drake is still seeking funding for the Centennial Campaign. Prairie Meadows, a nonprofit casino in Altoona, is one of the major funding sources for the project.
“Prarie Meadows gives about $5-6 million annually in grants to groups in central Iowa,” Hardin said. “And we were fortunate to receive a grant for $600,000 that will help us. It gets us jump started on this project. The entire project will be privately fundraised for, so we’ll be relying on supporters while there’s individuals or businesses to help us get to that. We do have some dollars set aside in an endowment for the stadium that we could tap into, but outside of that, everything else will be privately fundraised.”
The Drake Stadium has a rich history in the Des Moines community. Benedict Chatelain, a reference and instruction archivist at Drake, worked on an exhibit about the history of the stadium in Cowles Library. The exhibit “Through this Tunnel” covers the history of Drake athletics and the stadium, starting with the original Drake football team in the 1890s.
“We went from the origins of athletic fields at the university, from 1893, where the football team played in a lot where the Cowles Library stands today,” Chatelain said. “Following the success of the team, the present Drake Stadium was built in 1925.”
The Drake Stadium has hosted many events in its 100-year history, including the time Daniel Morehouse, the president of Drake at the time, turned off all the stadium lights and hosted an astronomy lecture during half time, according to Chatelain. With the location of Des Moines, Hardin sees the coming renovations bringing more events back to Drake.
“We know that we’ve got a great location that’s in the middle of the country,” Hardin said. “So we believe that if we can get our venue to the same level as what theirs is at, in combination with what we have on the community side, will put us in position to bring those events back to Drake and Des Moines.”
