Zable Stadium
Encyclopedia
Walter J. Zable Stadium at Cary Field, named for Walter J. Zable, former member of the College of William & Mary Board of Visitors, is located in Williamsburg, Virginia
and is the home of the William and Mary Tribe football team. It is located centrally in the William & Mary campus, adjoining the Sadler Center (formerly the University Center) building and situated on Richmond Road. The stadium is used for football
and track & field. It has an official capacity of 12,259 fans. The attendance figures for William and Mary football games are usually inexact, however, since students are not counted among the official results in an accurate fashion. The area of Cary Field behind the stadium was the baseball
field for William and Mary until the opening of Plumeri Park
in 1999.
's Public Works Administration
. The namesakes of the stadium are Walter (W&M class of 1937) and Betty Zable (class of 1940), who made a $10 million contribution to William & Mary in 1990, adding the Zable moniker to the existing Cary Field. The construction of the stadium is distinct in that the primary entrance to the stadium is at the 50 yard line on one side, eliminating prime midfield seating locations. In order to secure the stadium, college officials had it designed for agriculture expositions with a cattle entrance at midfield. No expositions, however, were ever held, but the midfield seats remained lost.
The first football game played at the stadium was the 1935 season opener, a 0-0 tie against the University of Virginia
. Zable himself played in the game.
. Zable did not feature permanent lighting for evening games until 2005, when gifts of $650,000 allowed the construction of lights over the stadium. The gifts were spurred by the 2004 NCAA
Division I-AA playoff
game that William & Mary hosted against James Madison University
. The game was nationally televised by ESPN2
, and portable lights were brought in on trucks to allow the game to be played in ESPN's evening time slot. The game featured the largest crowd in recent Zable history and created a demand for additional night games. Previously, displeasure from the Williamsburg community over night games had kept the demand for lights to a minimum.
In 2006, Cary Field's natural grass surface was replaced with FieldTurf pro, the same turf used in over twenty NFL football stadiums. The project cost an estimated $840,000.
A new scoreboard was recently installed at Zable Stadium at an estimated cost of $800,000. The scoreboard is 53’-3” wide × 27’-5” high and features video replay capabilities.
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
and is the home of the William and Mary Tribe football team. It is located centrally in the William & Mary campus, adjoining the Sadler Center (formerly the University Center) building and situated on Richmond Road. The stadium is used for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and track & field. It has an official capacity of 12,259 fans. The attendance figures for William and Mary football games are usually inexact, however, since students are not counted among the official results in an accurate fashion. The area of Cary Field behind the stadium was the baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
field for William and Mary until the opening of Plumeri Park
Plumeri Park
Plumeri Park is The College of William & Mary Tribe baseball team's home stadium located in Williamsburg, Virginia. It has been in use since 1999. Joseph J...
in 1999.
History
The Stadium at Cary Field was constructed in 1935 at a cost of $138,395 under a grant from President Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's Public Works Administration
Public Works Administration
The Public Works Administration , part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression...
. The namesakes of the stadium are Walter (W&M class of 1937) and Betty Zable (class of 1940), who made a $10 million contribution to William & Mary in 1990, adding the Zable moniker to the existing Cary Field. The construction of the stadium is distinct in that the primary entrance to the stadium is at the 50 yard line on one side, eliminating prime midfield seating locations. In order to secure the stadium, college officials had it designed for agriculture expositions with a cattle entrance at midfield. No expositions, however, were ever held, but the midfield seats remained lost.
The first football game played at the stadium was the 1935 season opener, a 0-0 tie against the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. Zable himself played in the game.
Recent developments
The largest crowd in Zable Stadium history was more than 19,000 in the 1949 loss against the University of North CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. Zable did not feature permanent lighting for evening games until 2005, when gifts of $650,000 allowed the construction of lights over the stadium. The gifts were spurred by the 2004 NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I-AA playoff
Playoff
The playoffs, postseason, or finals of a sports league are a game or series of games played after the regular season by the top competitors, usually but not always with a single-elimination system, to determine the league champion or a similar accolade.In the U.S...
game that William & Mary hosted against James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...
. The game was nationally televised by ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
, and portable lights were brought in on trucks to allow the game to be played in ESPN's evening time slot. The game featured the largest crowd in recent Zable history and created a demand for additional night games. Previously, displeasure from the Williamsburg community over night games had kept the demand for lights to a minimum.
In 2006, Cary Field's natural grass surface was replaced with FieldTurf pro, the same turf used in over twenty NFL football stadiums. The project cost an estimated $840,000.
A new scoreboard was recently installed at Zable Stadium at an estimated cost of $800,000. The scoreboard is 53’-3” wide × 27’-5” high and features video replay capabilities.