Thursday Night Football Site: East Carolina

With Help from ECU Athletic Site

This weeks Thursday Night Game takes us to East Carolina where the Pirates host the Virginia Tech Hokies.  After two consecutive losses, including a Thursday Night defeat last week.  Since they demolished Boston College 48-14 for thieir fifth straight win and a move into the top 5, VT then lost to Georgia Tech and North Carolina to almost drop out of the top 25.  A trip to Dowdy Ficklen Stadium may be just what the Hokies need.

The Bagwell Field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium is the on-campus facility for East Carolina Pirates in Greenville, North Carolina.  The official capacity of the stadium is 43,000, making it the 4th largest in North Carolina. The record attendance for the stadium was on November 20, 1999 against North Carolina State University with 50,092 in attendance.

The stadium opened as Ficklen Memorial Stadium on September 21, 1963 with a win against Wake Forest. Construction of the stadium cost over $300,000, most of which was raised by the college’s Society of Buccaneers, the school’s booster club. It was originally named for James Skinner Ficklen, owner of Greenville’s E.B. Skinner Tobacco Company. Skinner was considered a friend of the college, and had established a scholarship fund.

The stadium originally consisted of only the south side stands, with a small press box and a lighting system. In 1968, the north stands were constructed, bringing seating capacity up to 20,000. In 1975, a $450,000 lighting upgrade was completed, moving the light stanchions to the perimeter of the stadium rather than the edge of the field. The renovation added 288 fixtures of 1500 watts each on six 162-foot towers. By 1978, the grandstands had been widened out towards the edges of the stadium, nearly doubling the size of the stadium to 35,000. The press box was also updated at this time, and a modern scoreboard was installed. In 1983, a modern drainage system was installed, and Tifton 419 Hybrid Bermuda grass was planted.

In April, 1994, Ron & Mary Ellen Dowdy of Orlando announced a $1 million gift to the ECU Educational Foundation, which would also contribute to the stadium’s continuing renovations. Ron Dowdy, class of 1966, is a member of the Board of Trustees, who runs Dowdy Properties, a real estate company in the Orlando Area. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the Florida Citrus Sports Association, the Board of Directors for the Florida Citrus Bowl, the Board of Directors at Humana Hospital Lucerne in Orlando, and the Senior Citizen Advisory Committee in Orange County. For their gift, the stadium was renamed Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium that year.

In 1997, the playing surface was renamed in honor of Al and Debby Bagwell, graduates of the university. Al has served as president of the Pirates Club (the modern booster club), and has served on the Board of Visitors.

In 1998, an upper deck was placed on the north side, bringing the capacity to 40,000. A year later, 3,000 more seats were added, bringing the capacity to its current level. In 2001, the Murphy Center, a training facility and field house which also contains the ECU Hall of Fame, was opened in the west end zone. One year later, the current $2 million scoreboard, which has an instant replay board and a deck on top for video production, was added to the east end.

East Endzone Seating East Carolina's Athletic Director, Terry Holland, annonced that seating in the east endzone will be completed in 2010. The expansion would put 7,000 extra seats in Dowdy-Ficklen, bringing the total capcity to 50,000.

Future expansion of the stadium includes enclosing the east end zone with additional seating and luxury suites, the addition of a new press box, suites, and upper level to the south side of the stadium, construction of a six story building for office space, player’s lounge, locker rooms, classrooms, and meeting rooms. Upon completion, the stadium’s capacity will be increased to over 62,000.

If you dont want to tailgate, check out some of these favorite student restaurants and bars for food and drinks beforehand:

Favorite Student Spots
Boli's
BW3's
Chico's Mexican Restaruant
Cristy's Euro Pub
Club Aqua
Ham's
Pantana Bob's
The Red Rooster

Other Places To Check Out
4th and Tavern
5th Street
Lucky's
Rumors
The Pita Pit
The Tank