Don Drumm stadium shortly after construction was completed in 1934. (File Photo)

When Marietta College plays Wilmington College today it will mark the 100th homecoming game for the school. Until the 1930s though, the team did not really have a permanent stadium to call home. That all changed in 1934 when the Marietta Municipal Stadium was dedicated on Oct. 5. The stadium at Greene and Fifth streets remains the home field for both the college and Marietta High School.

Football as we know it today was first played at Marietta College in the 1890s. At first it was played at the Washington County Fairgrounds. It was there that Petey Gilman made one of the first forward passes in the sport in a game with Ohio University.

In 1916 the Pioneers finally arrived at the Fifth and Greene streets location, a primitive field that also hosted baseball.

The stadium that rose from that spot in the 1930s was a product of the Great Depression that gripped the nation.

One of the features of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal was to give work to those who had lost their jobs due to the depression.

The suggestion was made to construct a new stadium as part of the Civil Works Administration. The CWA provided more than 200,000 Ohioans with work that helped to construct more than 6,000 public projects in the state. By the time the stadium was completed the project was part of the Works Progress Administration.

Before the stadium could be built, the land had to be donated to the city. Projects could only be built on public land and because of this, the new stadium would be used by both the college and the Marietta schools. Because it was the college’s land to start with, the college would always be able to schedule their events first. At one time or another the stadium was owned by the City of Marietta, Marietta City Schools and Marietta College.

In 1966, Municipal Stadium was renamed Don Drumm Stadium after the legendary college coach that had both played for and coached at the school.

The stadium is owned by the college, which has greatly updated the stadium over the last few decades. The field was converted into artificial turf more than 20 years ago.

In 2009 the Chlapaty family donated $2.6 million as part of a $3.6 million stadium renovation project that included a four-story structure with new locker rooms, coaches’ offices and a press box. The addition was built so it matched the large stone walls that surround the stadium on several sides.

Generations of athletes have played on the field. For a time, baseball was played on the field, soccer was played there as well until a new soccer field was built across Greene Street. Runners, who now use a state-of-the-art track, once circled the football field on cinders. The photo on page 2 of today’s Times shows the stadium in the early years.

Take a look and notice the grass field and the much smaller press box of the stadium.

I never played on the field, but have walked the sidelines plenty as a photographer. As a Tiger in the 1970s, I also helped clean it every Saturday after a home game.

It was a fundraiser for the crew team. We showed up at 8 a.m. to remove the mess that people had left under their wood bleacher seats. The bleachers, field and lighting are so much nicer now than they were then.

Anyone driving across the Williamstown Bridge now drives directly toward the stadium as they come down off the bridge.

Construction of the bridge in 1992 forced the closing of Fifth Street next to the stadium.

Earlier closures through campus meant that it was no longer a through street anyway.

On evenings when games are being played and the lights are illuminating the field, the facility is an impressive front door into the city, one that is certain to continue to welcome people for decades to come.

Art Smith in online manager for The Times, His column appears on Saturdays. You can reach him at asmith@mariettatimes.com

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