![]() Once the project began in late summer of 1921, the work was feverish. “They had to wait for the crops to be cleared that year,” Patko said. Smith picked farmland near the Olentangy River for his new creation.At that school up north, Michigan Stadium won’t turn 100 until 2027. Nebraska’s Memorial, Illinois’ Memorial and Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium turn 100 next season, and Purdue’s Ross-Ade the year after. Wisconsin’s Camp Randall is 105 years old. When it comes to football stadia, the Big Ten is a senior citizens’ community.But there have been no Ohio Stadium losses to the Wolverines the past 21 years. That included the dedication game in 1922 that ended with a 19-0 thud. Overall, Ohio State is 475-111-19 in its stadium, with 21 of those 111 defeats -19 percent - coming against Michigan. The 605th was a 49-10 romp over Rutgers last Saturday. The first game was a 5-0 win over Ohio Wesleyan on Oct.To mark the special birthday, and with the help of Patko and Park, here are 11 things big and small to know about Ohio Stadium. He has seen maybe 400 games in Ohio Stadium, the first in 1949. ![]() "It’s probably maybe the most recognized structure in the state of Ohio," said Jack Park, a CPA by training who has made a lifetime of writing and talking about the history of Ohio State football. Critics thought such a size was silly and extravagant, but not for long. If put end-to-end, the wooden bleacher seats would have stretched 21 miles. Among Smith’s thinking was a unique horseshoe-shape for the stadium, an upper deck and more than 60,000 seats. ![]() Officials were hoping for public donations to reach $600,000. Ohio State was so determined to fund the project that parades were held on downtown streets. More than 100 years later, nothing has changed about that. Patko’s collection includes this thoughtful line that Howard Dwight Smith wrote more than a century ago after studying the Ohio State situation: "The popularity of football during the recent season has shown that great crowds will have to be accommodated at the game.” But to build an all-concrete reinforced stadium in 1921." To look at the construction and how they did that, I’ve never done anything this good in my life and I’ve done a lot of very nice modern buildings. "I walk this place most of the time when it’s empty. "Every boss before me and every boss after me has to have that feeling." "It’s our crown jewel, it’s our monument, it’s our responsibility during our time period (to take care of it)," he said. In reality, he’s the keeper of the flame at Ohio State the man who watches over, tends to - and treasures - Ohio Stadium. Officially, Patko is the assistant athletics director for facilities and capital building projects. How’d that turn out? Don Patko reached into the lower right drawer of his desk this week for Smith’s drawings and notes from back then. That was an architect from Dayton named Howard Dwight Smith, who had grown up not far from the bicycle shop of Orville and Wilbur Wright. The school, driven by the big-stadium visions of athletics-minded engineering professor Thomas French, turned to an alum for ideas. The old field a half-mile east was so small, fans were climbing trees and sawing off parts of the fence to get a look at their Buckeyes. World War I had just ended and Ohio State needed a new football home. To appreciate Ohio Stadium on its 100th birthday, we should remember how and why it started.
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