UM Football Historians, Question About the Public's Reaction To Building the Big House

[RutgersRaRa]

Your stadium was huge even when it was first built in 1927, and it was an expensive endeavor. Does anyone on here have a sense as to the public's reaction to spending the money on it when it was proposed and under construction? I ask because Rutgers is in an expansion/upgrading phase, and will be for a number of years, and many of our fans (and non-fans) cite the disparity between subsidies for RU athletics and other programs as problematic--accounting methods notwithstanding, growth costs money, and many fail to consider that programs such as UM's have long since paid for their stadiums and facilities.

It would be hard to imagine that there wouldn't have been detractors at the time it was being built, as there are always people who say the money could be spent on other things. Anyone with the skinny on the mood at the time?

As an aside, it was a good thing the BH was completed by '27, since the Depression might have killed the project.

 

[Knuckles101]

Too bad Constant no longer posts here, he'd be able to recall what the public reaction was.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Too bad Constant no longer posts here, he'd be able to recall what the public reaction was.

Every fan base has one who knows their school's history, and it is entertaining to see just how similar (and retentive ) these folks are. There's a guy on the Louisville board who has to be from the same gene pool as our poster named Source (fitting name, no doubt).

Paging Constant,,,

 

[ChicagoBlueFan]

Too bad Constant no longer posts here, he'd be able to recall what the public reaction was.

Haaaa! I believe Constant was opposed to UM using fancy new gadgets in the construction and not digging it by hand.

 

[champwest]

There is a great book on this topic called "The Big House: Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium". There was a lot of opposition particularly from the faculty but Yost's force of will with support from alumni and students pushed it through. But the administration demanded it be of utmost simplicity and not like the "grander" new stadiums at Illinois, Ohio State, etc. I think it only cost 950,000 to build in 1927. Because of the depression that stadium bonds were retired years after they were estimated to be.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Champwest, thanks for the info, and it's a similar dynamic that we've been facing vis-a-vis the faculty opposition. It's subsiding a bit, but I expect it to revive once we announce plans to expand our stadium to 72k, which (my guess) will happen within five years. The delayed paydown of the bonds for the Big House was probably inevitable given the Depression, but at least they got it built.
My next question is, given the cost of the stadium and that the UM athletics department has been in the black for (presumably) at least half a century, in present-day inflation-adjusted dollars, how long did it take for the department to be in the black and how much has it earned? Growth is expensive, but when done well it is also profitable and, in the case of college athletics, the minimum goal is revenue neutrality.

 

[St. Joe Blue 3]

Constant once stated here that his son and two nephews were construction workers back in the 1920's and did some of the early work on The Big House.

 

[NittanyAmerica]

The bonds were retired because of all the money made during WWII and right after.

Yost had the great idea to build on a swamp??????? Believe it or not, there is a giant crane buired under the actual football field !! It went under like quick sand. Explains how the field is crap after three rain drops land on it.

One year Penn State played on a field that was sh1t for mud. Completely unacceptable but the game was played. Naturally Penn State lost, but the field was not to blame. It was the refs as usual for our games. You win, your refs and get fat and happy and Penn State licks its wounds we know will one day be returned with great satisfaction.

Starting of course this year.

N i t t a n y A m e r i c a

 

[ChicagoBlueFan]

The bonds were retired because of all the money made during WWII and right after.

Yost had the great idea to build on a swamp??????? Believe it or not, there is a giant crane buired under the actual football field !! It went under like quick sand. Explains how the field is crap after three rain drops land on it.

One year Penn State played on a field that was sh1t for mud. Completely unacceptable but the game was played. Naturally Penn State lost, but the field was not to blame. It was the refs as usual for our games. You win, your refs and get fat and happy and Penn State licks its wounds we know will one day be returned with great satisfaction.

Starting of course this year.

Ped A m e r i c a

The visitor's sideline is always muddy and nasty from JoePed pooping himself there repeatedly. What a nasty ped enabler he was...

 

[24to12]

Your stadium was huge even when it was first built in 1927, and it was an expensive endeavor. Does anyone on here have a sense as to the public's reaction to spending the money on it when it was proposed and under construction? I ask because Rutgers is in an expansion/upgrading phase, and will be for a number of years, and many of our fans (and non-fans) cite the disparity between subsidies for RU athletics and other programs as problematic--accounting methods notwithstanding, growth costs money, and many fail to consider that programs such as UM's have long since paid for their stadiums and facilities.

It would be hard to imagine that there wouldn't have been detractors at the time it was being built, as there are always people who say the money could be spent on other things. Anyone with the skinny on the mood at the time?

As an aside, it was a good thing the BH was completed by '27, since the Depression might have killed the project.

Your stadium was huge even when it was first built in 1927, and it was an expensive endeavor. Does anyone on here have a sense as to the public's reaction to spending the money on it when it was proposed and under construction? I ask because Rutgers is in an expansion/upgrading phase, and will be for a number of years, and many of our fans (and non-fans) cite the disparity between subsidies for RU athletics and other programs as problematic--accounting methods notwithstanding, growth costs money, and many fail to consider that programs such as UM's have long since paid for their stadiums and facilities.

It would be hard to imagine that there wouldn't have been detractors at the time it was being built, as there are always people who say the money could be spent on other things. Anyone with the skinny on the mood at the time?

As an aside, it was a good thing the BH was completed by '27, since the Depression might have killed the project.

Check out the link below with short film of dedication game in 1927; and a good rendition of The Victors.

 

[candid]

The bonds were retired because of all the money made during WWII and right after.

Yost had the great idea to build on a swamp??????? Believe it or not, there is a giant crane buired under the actual football field !! It went under like quick sand. Explains how the field is crap after three rain drops land on it.

One year Penn State played on a field that was sh1t for mud. Completely unacceptable but the game was played. Naturally Penn State lost, but the field was not to blame. It was the refs as usual for our games. You win, your refs and get fat and happy and Penn State licks its wounds we know will one day be returned with great satisfaction.

Starting of course this year.

N i t t a n y A m e r i c a

Just about when the psu bs gets under control another idiot shows up.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Check out the link below with short film of dedication game in 1927; and a good rendition of The Victors.

View embedded media

That was awesome on so many levels. Great footage, great song, and of course great outcome for UM. "Champions of the west"--what does "west" refer to? Anyone know who Henry Tappan Hall (I hope my memory has his name correct) was?

 

[candid]

The bonds were retired because of all the money made during WWII and right after.

Yost had the great idea to build on a swamp??????? Believe it or not, there is a giant crane buired under the actual football field !! It went under like quick sand. Explains how the field is crap after three rain drops land on it.

One year Penn State played on a field that was sh1t for mud. Completely unacceptable but the game was played. Naturally Penn State lost, but the field was not to blame. It was the refs as usual for our games. You win, your refs and get fat and happy and Penn State licks its wounds we know will one day be returned with great satisfaction.

Starting of course this year.

N i t t a n y A m e r i c a

? aboout fans chanting "we are penn state?" Is there another group anywhere in the country that is jealous of your heritage?