Outdoor athletic stadium in Boston, Massachusetts
Nickerson Field
is an outdoor athletic stadium in the
Northeastern United States
, on the campus of
Boston University
(BU) in
Boston, Massachusetts
. The stadium is owned by BU, and is the home field for some
Boston University Terriers
athletics programs, including
soccer
and
lacrosse
. It was also the home of the
Boston University Terriers football
team until the program was discontinued following the 1997 season.
[2]
The stadium is located on the site of
Braves Field
, the former home
ballpark
of the
Boston Braves
, a
major league
baseball team
in the
National League
; the franchise relocated to
Milwaukee
in March 1953,
[3]
and relocated again in 1966, becoming the
Atlanta Braves
. Parts of Braves Field, such as the entry gate and right field pavilion, remain as portions of the current stadium. The old Braves Field ticket office at
Harry Agganis
Way also remains, now used by the
Boston University Police Department
as
headquarters
complete with a
cellblock
. The stadium has been the home of BU teams longer (50-plus years) than it was the home of the Braves (parts of 38 seasons).
The field is named for
William Emery Nickerson
(1853?1930), a partner of
King C. Gillette
during the early years of the
Gillette Safety Razor Company
.
[4]
History
[
edit
]
The university's previous athletic field was in the town of
Weston
. That field had been named for Nickerson, a member of the BU
board of trustees
who had donated funds for the facilities in Weston in 1926.
[5]
Nickerson "was an
MIT
graduate who was the principal inventor of the machinery used to manufacture the first
Gillette
safety razor."
[6]
[7]
The first Nickerson Field was dedicated on October 6, 1928, with a game against the
New Hampshire Wildcats
.
[8]
BU purchased the former home of the Braves on July 30, 1953,
[9]
and in April 1954 renamed it
Boston University Field
.
[10]
In 1955, the left field pavilion and the "Jury Box" were demolished and in November, 1959, the grandstand was taken down to make room for three high rise dormitories that were completed in 1964. The existing right field pavilion was squared off on the west side and filled in on the east side where a section had been removed to accommodate the Braves Field right field foul pole and
bullpens
. The three dormitories overlooking the field coincidentally suggest the outline of the original main grandstand section.
[11]
In February 1956, BU was awarded $391,000 for the Weston field, which had been taken by
eminent domain
for construction of
Massachusetts Route 128
.
[12]
BU used the proceeds, in part, to renovate the former baseball park, and on September 28, 1963, renamed it
Nickerson Field
, inheriting the name of the prior field in Weston.
[13]
In 1968, the field underwent a renovation. The four Braves Field light towers were dismantled. That year, BU became the second college in the United States to install
AstroTurf
. The following year, not only did the BU football team practice on that field, so did the
Boston College Eagles football
team and the
Boston Patriots
. Both used the field to prepare for away games they would play on AstroTurf fields.
During the
1983 season
, Nickerson Field was the home field of the
Boston Breakers
of the
United States Football League
. From the mid-1980s to 1995, the stadium hosted the New England Scholastic Band Association's marching band field show championships. In 1989, to accommodate commencement speakers U.S. President
George H. W. Bush
and French President
Francois Mitterrand
, a large platform was constructed to
Secret Service
specifications on one side of the field. In 2001, the antiquated turf was replaced with a newer, more player-friendly artificial surface (
FieldTurf
) as part of a deal with the
Women's United Soccer Association
to host the
Boston Breakers
games. With a professional soccer team playing at Nickerson the football lines, which had remained on the field even though BU no longer had a football program, were not repainted. The platform built for Bush and Mitterrand was removed during the summer of 2008, when the field was expanded and resurfaced.
In the summer of 2015, the field received a new artificial turf, GreenFields MX Trimension; the new surface was installed over a period of five weeks, covering 110,000 square feet (10,000 m
2
).
[14]
-
View from the field, 2008.
-
Former right field pavilion, 2008.
-
Main concourse under the stadium's seating, 2006.
Use by professional sports
[
edit
]
Since its reconfiguration in the 1950s, multiple professional sports franchises have used the stadium:
- † The Tea Men used Nickerson after
Foxboro Raceway
filed a
temporary restraining order
preventing them from using
Schaefer Stadium
.
- ‡ The 2004 and 2005
Major League Lacrosse championships
were played at the stadium.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Nickerson Field"
.
goterriers.com
.
Boston University
. Retrieved
October 19,
2017
.
- ^
"Boston University cuts out football program"
.
Bangor Daily News
. Maine. Associated Press. October 27, 1997. p. C3.
- ^
"Approve Boston Braves' move"
.
Ellensburg Daily Record
. Washington. Associated Press. March 18, 1953. p. 1.
- ^
"Nickerson, Inventor of Gillette Safety Razor Machinery, Dead"
.
The Burlington Free Press
.
Burlington, Vermont
.
AP
. June 6, 1930 – via newspapers.com.
- ^
"New England Sports Briefs"
.
North Adams Transcript
.
North Adams, Massachusetts
.
AP
. September 24, 1963
. Retrieved
October 20,
2017
– via newspapers.com.
- ^
Craig, David J. (October 15, 1999).
"Who's behind that building?"
.
B.U. Bridge
. Vol. III, no. 10.
Boston University
– via bu.edu.
- ^
"About Us ? Nickerson Family Association"
.
nickersonassoc.com
. Retrieved
October 19,
2017
.
- ^
"Pioneers Dedicate New Athletic Field Today"
.
The Boston Globe
. October 6, 1928. p. 6
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
– via newspapers.com.
- ^
"Braves Field Sold To Boston University"
.
The Palm Beach Post
.
West Palm Beach, Florida
.
AP
. July 31, 1953
. Retrieved
October 20,
2017
– via newspapers.com.
- ^
"Braves Field Becomes Boston University Field"
.
North Adams Transcript
.
North Adams, Massachusetts
.
AP
. April 14, 1954
. Retrieved
October 20,
2017
– via newspapers.com.
- ^
"Boston University field and West Campus, Charles River, Boston"
.
digitalcommonwealth.org
. 1975
. Retrieved
October 20,
2017
.
- ^
"B.U. Wins $391,000 In Turnpike Suit"
.
The Berkshire Eagle
.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
.
UPI
. February 2, 1956
. Retrieved
October 20,
2017
– via newspapers.com.
- ^
"New England Sports Briefs"
.
North Adams Transcript
.
North Adams, Massachusetts
.
AP
. September 23, 1963
. Retrieved
October 20,
2017
– via newspapers.com.
- ^
"Nickerson Field Gets a Face-lift"
.
BU Today
.
Boston University
. September 2, 2015
. Retrieved
October 19,
2017
.
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[
edit
]
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