Kinnick Stadium is a stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the University of Iowa "Hawkeyes". Kinnick Stadium opened in 1929 and holds 70,585 people. It is named after Nile Kinnick, the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner and the only Heisman winner in school history, who died in World War II. It was named Iowa Stadium until 1972, when longtime lobbying by Cedar Rapids Gazette sportswriter Gus Schrader successfully convinced the UI athletic board to change the name.

The stadium is currently undergoing a $90 million renovation, which will include new locker rooms for both the Hawkeyes and the visiting team, a new scoreboard with a new sound system, a complete replacement of the south end zone bleachers, and a new pressbox. The stadium also underwent major renovations in 1956 (expanded from 53,000 seats to 61,160), 1983 (when it was expanded from 61,160 seats to 67,700) and 1990 (when it was expanded to 70,397).

The playing surface is currently natural grass, although it was AstroTurf from 1972 until grass was reinstalled for the 1989 season. The installation of artificial turf came at the same time that Iowa Stadium was renamed Kinnick Stadium, in honor of the Heisman winner who had perished 29 years earlier.

Kinnick Stadium (then Iowa Stadium) was constructed in only 7 months between 1928 and 1929. Its planning was announced at the Iowa homecoming in 1928 by the athletic director, who promised that the team would be playing in a new stadium within a year. Construction and groundbreaking began on the stadium on March 6, 1929. Working around-the-clock, under lights by night, the construction continued. Horses and mules were the primary heavy-equipment movers of the stadium's construction, and animals that died during construction were buried under what now is the North end zone. The round-the-clock construction came to an end in July. Despite several problems to overcome, including the resignation of the athletic director and a slight redesign of the stadium, it was completed and the first game was played October 5, 1929 against Monmouth College. Iowa won the game, 46-0.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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