Hilltopper Heritage

Building History - Stadium & Terry Colonnade

Namesake - W.L. "Gander" Terry was a Marion native. He was a former football player, an athletic director, an assistant football coach and a head football coach. He also played on the old football field where the Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center now stands. Terry graduated in 1927 and was inducted in the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997. He died in 1991 at the age of 83. The colonnade was dedicated to him on July 23, 2003.

History - The stadium had a seating capacity of 7,500. “This field will be used for football, baseball, and all track events. It will also be used for the twilight meetings in the summer sessions, and for gatherings which outgrow the capacity of the auditorium” [Teachers College Heights, July 1926] . . . and will have shower baths, lockers, and toilet rooms beneath the surface. The front will be 300 feet in length, while at the rear of the structure a large Ionic colonnade of white stone, 155 feet long and 24 feet high will be constructed. [Colonnade Plate No. XXV] Before the colonnade, the area was the home to a limestone quarry which was used to build Schneider Hall. The colonnade was the last building to come from the quarry. ["Colonnade gets needed repairs," May 5, 1998] It was dedicated October 15, 1927 with a game between Transylvania and Western. Because of major growth in the 1960’s, the field had to be moved to L.T. Smith Stadium. The Toppers played their last game there in 1967.

Additions - 1946 - lights installed

1963 - metal bleachers replaced wooden bleachers

1998 - $30,000 restoration

See also:

Clark, Ashlee, "Colonnade Given Formal Name," College Heights Herald, August 28, 2003.

Researched and written by Jenna Hawkins, 2008