Campus Guide
alumni stadium
Alumni Stadium
1957
The first stadium erected when Boston College moved to the Heights in 1915 was situated on the Main Campus, running along what is now College Road. This modest stadium seated 5,000 spectators. In 1932, it was expanded to seat 22,000, but the success of BC football teams during the 1930s and '40s required larger facilities.
From 1937 to 1939, many BC football games were played at Fenway Park. After World War II, from 1946 to 1952, the games moved to Braves Field, the home of the former Boston Braves baseball team. By the 1950s, however, BC was faced with a difficult decision: Give up football, or build a new stadium.
Responding to alumni pressure, in 1957 Rev. Joseph Maxwell, SJ, President of Boston College, announced a $250,000 Alumni Fund Drive to build a new football stadium on the Beacon Street end of what had been the small reservoir area. The fund drive was a success, and the new Alumni Stadium was dedicated in September 1957.
Over the years, a series of improvements have been made to the facility. It was renovated in 1971, and again in 1988; the latter effort included the installation of an AstroTurf field. In the summer of 1994, a major renovation provided Alumni Stadium with a handsome new brick exterior, as well as 12,000 more seats, bringing its total seating capacity to 44,500. In addition to athletic events, Alumni Stadium also hosts annual Commencement exercises, which draw world-renowned speakers to the Boston College campus.