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Ada Ohio Walking Tour
Item 9 of 13

Ada War Memorial Park Stadium

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The land that would become Ada War Memorial Stadium was bought in 1903 and parts of the land turned into Alumni Field. By the fall of 1922 the football field and stadium was constructed with the help of students. A mutually beneficial agreement between the community and ONU was constructed and between the years 1947 and 2004 the students of ONU used the stadium as their home field for sports. It is now currently being used as the home field for the Ada high school.

Images

Overlooking the football field from the bleachers.

Sport venue, Stadium, Grass, Race track

Overlooking the two baseball fields.

Sport venue, Land lot, Grass, Tree

The football field with the playground, volleyball and tennis courts in the background.

Sport venue, Stadium, Race track, Grass

Side-view of the artillery piece at the park.

Cannon, Transport, Vehicle, Mode of transport

Front-view of the artillery piece at the park.

Motor vehicle, Vehicle, Mode of transport, Transport

A closer look at the WWII memorial.

Text, Commemorative plaque, Font, Memorial

The memorial to WWII at the park.

Memorial, Headstone, Historic site, Wall

The welcome sign to Ada War Memorial Stadium.

Land lot, Property, Sky, Grass

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

President Belt, the successor to president Lehr, purchased the former tri-county fair grounds in 1903. The fairgrounds were located in the southeast corner of the village, and were eventually split into sections following the purchase. Northern end of the ground was sold for building lots and the rest was turned into the Alumni Field. Alumni Field was used for playing fields and for the military students department to run drills. During, this time athletics were not noticeable but were around for students to participate in. In 1911 the College of Agriculture was established, however the college failed to thrive and was eventually disbanded. Plans to convert the property into something else for the campus to use began. Although those projects were shelved during the First World War. By the end of 1920 the school began constructing the baseball field with bleachers. Later on, by 1923, a football field, track and the groundwork for a tennis court was added. The university had its athletics there until after World War Two.

Following the war enrollment at Northern flourished and in need of housing these students a trailer park was established on the athletic grounds. At the same time Ada citizens were looking for ways to memorialize their servicemen. The decision was the current War Memorial Park with its stadium. A mutually beneficial arrangement between Northern and the citizens began, being that Northern would use the stadium in return for assisting in maintaining. This arrangement lasted from 1947 to the end of 2004 when the Dial-Roberson Stadium was opened on campus. The stadium is now used by the Ada high school. The community and Northern still have a bond over the stadium as seen on October 25, 2019 when together they broke a Guinness world record. The record was the most American made footballs thrown simultaneously and with the help of the Wilson Football factory the record was set at the Ada War Memorial Park Stadium.

Sources

Campus Buildings- Ada War Memorial Park. (2018, June 29). Ohio Northern University. Retrieved

November 19, 2020, from https://library.onu.edu/c.php?g=357885

Crouse, L. (2019, November 2). Once upon a time in Ada. Ada Icon. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from

http://www.adaicon.com/news/201911/once-upon-time-ada

Steiner, F. (2019, October 25). Ada's world record! Ada Icon. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from

http://www.adaicon.com/news/201910/adas-world-record

Kittell, J. (1986, July 14). History of ONU Athletics [Unpublished working paper]. History

Department, Ohio Northern University.

Additional Information