Presented by COMMERCIAL TIRE.
This Day In Sports…September 22, 1950, 75 years ago today:
The inaugural game is played in old Bronco Stadium (then new Bronco Stadium), the wooden structure that sat parallel to the Boise River overlapping the land on which the current stadium stands. The facility replaced Boise Junior College’s former home facility, the 1,000-seat College Field, which occupied the site of the current Student Union Building. When the college’s board of trustees decided in 1949 that it couldn’t support a tax-funded project, private interests mobilized. The new stadium was built entirely from cash donations, bond sales and donated materials.
Remarkably, the first Bronco Stadium didn’t break ground until June 1, 1950, and was built in just three months. In that time, the community rallied, snapping up 4,368 season tickets ($6.50 for five home games). The buildup to the gala grand opening was intense. In that first game, a capacity crowd of over 10,000 fans watched coach Lyle Smith and the Broncos beat Modesto City College 33-13 on their way to a berth in the Junior Rose Bowl. It was BJC’s 29th consecutive victory.
Smith had already carved his legend in Boise after arriving on campus in 1947. He would coach two more games for BJC in 1950, including a second one in the new stadium, before he was called to active duty in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. Smith wouldn’t be able to return to the team until the 1952 season. But he picked up where he left off, making Bronco Stadium synonymous with winning. Smith’s BJC career record before becoming Boise State’s first athletic director was an amazing 156-25-6.
The stadium served the college and the community for 20 seasons before it was torn down after the 1969 season (to be replaced by the facility now known as Albertsons Stadium). The Idaho Vandals played an annual home game at Bronco Stadium. Boise High’s home games were played there (as were Borah’s and Capital’s when those schools opened). As big as any BJC game in the stadium was the annual Veteran’s Day game between two of the city’s high schools, featuring an extravagant halftime show. There were also track meets, concerts, fireworks shows, and the Shrine Circus, among other things.
Here are some notes on its successor, Albertsons Stadium. It opened in September, 1970, with an original capacity of 14,500. The stadium expanded in 1975 with the east side upper deck added. The blue turf debuted in 1986, the south corners were added in 1997, the Steuckle Sky Center opened in 2008, the south end zone expansion was completed in 2012, the Bleymaier Football Complex opened in 2013, and the North End Zone renovation is coming along as we speak.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
