By Bill Koch
The first time UC football coach Tim Murphy saw Nippert Stadium in 1989, he knew the football program would never flourish if it had to play in what was then a decrepit, 65-year-old facility with a capacity of 26,592.
“My first thought was that the program has really no chance of surviving unless they build a new place,” Murphy said in a Nov. 3, 1989 story I wrote for The Cincinnati Post. “I would not have come here unless I was convinced there would be a new stadium within a very short period of time.”
Back then, Nippert Stadium was a red hot mess, much like the program itself. The concrete foundation was crumbling and the seats were uncomfortable, but even then it wasn’t without charm because of its location in the center of campus. Murphy could see the potential despite the constant roar of the power plant beyond the north end zone which has since been torn down, when he attended a high school football playoff game between Elder and Moeller that attracted about 19,000 fans.
“Even though it’s in disrepair and crumbling, I was amazed by the electricity of a night game and the enthusiasm and atmosphere of where it is,” Murphy said.
How bad was Nippert in those days?
In 1988, the Bearcats averaged only 12,254 fans per game. Before they were getting ready to play Memphis State in their Homecoming game in 1989, I asked quarterback Glenn Farkas about the benefits of playing in front of a big crowd at Nippert on those rare occasions when one showed up.
“It covers up the stadium so you don’t have to look at it,” Farkas said.
The school learned in November 1984 that the stadium was structurally unsound. At that time, UC spent $250,000 on repairs that enabled the Bearcats to play there for five more years.
In 1985, then-UC president Joseph Steger recommended to the Board of Trustees that the stadium be razed and replaced with a 40,000-seat facility at a cost of about $13 million. But a fund drive scheduled to begin in April 1986 was put on hold because it would have conflicted with an existing fund drive.
Nippert had been an eyesore for years. Compared with the modern facilities at other schools, it was a recruiting hindrance. UC running back Terry Strong said he was hustled past the stadium without seeing the locker facilities during his recruiting visit.
“They just passed by it and pointed it out to me,” Strong said.
There was good reason for not wanting a high school recruit to see the locker facilities. They consisted of two main rooms – a Red room and a White room. The starters and upperclassmen used the Red room. Everyone else was stuffed into the White Room. Both were dark and cramped.
“They were just in bad condition,” Strong said. “The ceiling tile would be falling down. When it rained heavy, the locker room would be wet and nasty inside. The carpet would get wet and mildewed. It smelled bad.”
As end of the 1989 season approached, UC officials had decided to shut down the stadium for a year to fix its many problems. For the previous several months, athletic director Rick Taylor had consulted with architects about what to do with the stadium. He also met with potential donors in an attempt to raise money to pay for a new or refurbished facility.
Taylor said officials were close to deciding what they would do with Nippert – whether they would demolish it and start over or renovate it, which is what eventually happened. But at the time they weren’t prepared to make their thinking public.
“No matter which option they go with,” Murphy said, “it’s going to be a whole new stadium.”
A few months earlier, UC’s football players had been able to escape those antiquated locker room facilities when they moved into the new Shoemaker Center with its locker facilities, training room and office complex.
Ultimately, the school decided to renovate Nippert in two phases. The first phase, which included fortifying the stadium’s structure, was completed in 1990. With Nippert unavailable that season, the Bearcats played their only three home games at Riverfront Stadium. They returned to Nippert in 1991 while the second phase was being finished. In the end, seating capacity was increased to 35,000 by extending the Reed Shank Pavilion, a new press box was built, and new lighting installed.
Except for a few cosmetic changes, the stadium remained unchanged from that point until 2013 when construction began on the $86-million renovation that was completed in 2015.
UC never did build a new stadium, but it turns out it really didn’t need one. Now the Bearcats have a modern, revenue-producing stadium that has retained the history of the old Nippert while adding a new press box, but more importantly expanding seating capacity to 40,000 and adding premium seating on the west side of the stadium.
The Bearcats went from having almost no premium seating options to the addition of 1,100 scholarship club suites and more than 50 indoor and outdoor suites of various sizes. The concourses on both sides of the stadium were widened and equipped with new restrooms and concession facilities.
It took 26 years, but UC finally had the stadium that Murhpy envisioned when he saw that Elder-Moeller game in 1989. And now the Bearcats have a Top 15 team to go with it.
The first time UC football coach Tim Murphy saw Nippert Stadium in 1989, he knew the football program would never flourish if it had to play in what was then a decrepit, 65-year-old facility with a capacity of 26,592.
“My first thought was that the program has really no chance of surviving unless they build a new place,” Murphy said in a Nov. 3, 1989 story I wrote for The Cincinnati Post. “I would not have come here unless I was convinced there would be a new stadium within a very short period of time.”
Back then, Nippert Stadium was a red hot mess, much like the program itself. The concrete foundation was crumbling and the seats were uncomfortable, but even then it wasn’t without charm because of its location in the center of campus. Murphy could see the potential despite the constant roar of the power plant beyond the north end zone which has since been torn down, when he attended a high school football playoff game between Elder and Moeller that attracted about 19,000 fans.
“Even though it’s in disrepair and crumbling, I was amazed by the electricity of a night game and the enthusiasm and atmosphere of where it is,” Murphy said.
How bad was Nippert in those days?
In 1988, the Bearcats averaged only 12,254 fans per game. Before they were getting ready to play Memphis State in their Homecoming game in 1989, I asked quarterback Glenn Farkas about the benefits of playing in front of a big crowd at Nippert on those rare occasions when one showed up.
“It covers up the stadium so you don’t have to look at it,” Farkas said.
The school learned in November 1984 that the stadium was structurally unsound. At that time, UC spent $250,000 on repairs that enabled the Bearcats to play there for five more years.
In 1985, then-UC president Joseph Steger recommended to the Board of Trustees that the stadium be razed and replaced with a 40,000-seat facility at a cost of about $13 million. But a fund drive scheduled to begin in April 1986 was put on hold because it would have conflicted with an existing fund drive.
Nippert had been an eyesore for years. Compared with the modern facilities at other schools, it was a recruiting hindrance. UC running back Terry Strong said he was hustled past the stadium without seeing the locker facilities during his recruiting visit.
“They just passed by it and pointed it out to me,” Strong said.
There was good reason for not wanting a high school recruit to see the locker facilities. They consisted of two main rooms – a Red room and a White room. The starters and upperclassmen used the Red room. Everyone else was stuffed into the White Room. Both were dark and cramped.
“They were just in bad condition,” Strong said. “The ceiling tile would be falling down. When it rained heavy, the locker room would be wet and nasty inside. The carpet would get wet and mildewed. It smelled bad.”
As end of the 1989 season approached, UC officials had decided to shut down the stadium for a year to fix its many problems. For the previous several months, athletic director Rick Taylor had consulted with architects about what to do with the stadium. He also met with potential donors in an attempt to raise money to pay for a new or refurbished facility.
Taylor said officials were close to deciding what they would do with Nippert – whether they would demolish it and start over or renovate it, which is what eventually happened. But at the time they weren’t prepared to make their thinking public.
“No matter which option they go with,” Murphy said, “it’s going to be a whole new stadium.”
A few months earlier, UC’s football players had been able to escape those antiquated locker room facilities when they moved into the new Shoemaker Center with its locker facilities, training room and office complex.
Ultimately, the school decided to renovate Nippert in two phases. The first phase, which included fortifying the stadium’s structure, was completed in 1990. With Nippert unavailable that season, the Bearcats played their only three home games at Riverfront Stadium. They returned to Nippert in 1991 while the second phase was being finished. In the end, seating capacity was increased to 35,000 by extending the Reed Shank Pavilion, a new press box was built, and new lighting installed.
Except for a few cosmetic changes, the stadium remained unchanged from that point until 2013 when construction began on the $86-million renovation that was completed in 2015.
UC never did build a new stadium, but it turns out it really didn’t need one. Now the Bearcats have a modern, revenue-producing stadium that has retained the history of the old Nippert while adding a new press box, but more importantly expanding seating capacity to 40,000 and adding premium seating on the west side of the stadium.
The Bearcats went from having almost no premium seating options to the addition of 1,100 scholarship club suites and more than 50 indoor and outdoor suites of various sizes. The concourses on both sides of the stadium were widened and equipped with new restrooms and concession facilities.
It took 26 years, but UC finally had the stadium that Murhpy envisioned when he saw that Elder-Moeller game in 1989. And now the Bearcats have a Top 15 team to go with it.
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