Facts about Sulsberger Stadium

• Construction Started -- June 1964
• Dedication Game -- November 13, 1964,
  
      vs. Newark High School (estimated attendance -- 8,000)
• Construction Cost (actual) -- $278,000
• Construction Cost (today's dollars) -- $1,782,000
• Seating Capacity -- 6,000

 

 Subsequent Improvement Projects

• 1970s -- Wooden bleacher seats replaced with aluminum.
• 1980s -- Field lighting upgraded.
• 1990 --  Installation of 8-lane all-weather track.
• 1998 --  Construction of main entrance gate, including new walls, gate
                 and Wall of Pride brick project.
• 2000 --  Renovation of locker room.
• 2007 --  Installation of the Lee Eric Vinsel Memorial and Memorial Grove.

 

 What It's Used For

• Varsity and junior varsity football, including OHSAA
      playoff games
• Varsity and junior varsity boys and girls soccer
• Boys and girls track and field
• Marching band practice and competition (home of Ohio's longest-running
     OMEA-sanctioned marching band competition, The Bonanza of Bands)
• Devilettes performances with the ZHS band
• Annual commencement exercises, weather permitting
• Physical education classes
• Other school and community events

 

 They've Played Here

• Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, as a ZHS opponent.
• Buster Howe, the first "Mr. Football" named by The Associated Press
     (1987), whose jersey number 3 is the only one other than
     John Sulsberger's to be retired by Zanesville High School.
• Major League baseball player Jay Payton, as an All-Ohio soccer star
      for the Blue Devils.
• NFL players Matt Stewart and Joshua Cribbs, as opponents.
• Track-and-field star Jon Thomas, a four-time Big Ten 400-meter hurdles
      champion at Indiana University and ranked as high as 6th nationally
      (1985) in the event.
• Michigan State head football coach Mark Dantonio (also former head
      coach at Cincinnati and defensive coordinator for the 2002 National
     
  Champion Ohio State Buckeyes), as a Blue Devil.
• Vice Admiral Albert "Bert" Calland (ret.), former Deputy Director
      of the CIA and decorated Navy SEAL, who also starred at the
      United States Naval Academy after his career at ZHS.

(If you want to suggest more names for this feature,
please e-mail the site administrator!)

  The View from Above