UTC Says Still Not Finalized On Future Of Engel Stadium

  • Tuesday, November 5, 2024
  • John Shearer
Engel Stadium
Engel Stadium
Since the announcement was made last week that a new Hamilton County Health Department will be built at the old Engel Stadium property, some have wondered whether the stadium will be preserved and readapted to some other use or torn down.

UTC Vice Chancellor for Communications and Marketing Dr. Jay Blackman said in an email Tuesday that all of that is still being finalized, and its exact future is unknown at present.
That is in part because the school also needs additional facilities for some of its women’s sports teams, and the area around Engel Stadium might be good for that.

"We are still early in the planning stages for exactly what we are going to do on the Engel Stadium property,” he said. "The new Hamilton County Health Department will go on the corner of O'Neil and 3rd Streets and will anchor that corner of the property. For the rest of it, we are looking at developing some facilities to support intercollegiate athletics for women's sports. This space could potentially house locker rooms for soccer, beach volleyball and softball.”

The former UTC assistant athletic director said that beach volleyball plays its matches at this facility - although just outside the rightfield wall of the stadium - and soccer practices on the intramural fields that were built in the vacant space once used for Engel Stadium game day parking. He also said that softball will eventually need to relocate from its hitting facility at Warner Park.

As a result, the area around Engel Stadium might be perfect for all that, he added.

“We hope to recreate some of that with a new facility here,” he said. "There might also be potential for an additional soccer field.”

Regarding the future of the large covered grandstand, which was built in 1930 and has had only minimal maintenance upkeep in recent years, he said that is still to be determined. “We want to adaptively reuse as much of it as possible. We are not exactly sure what that will look like at this time, but we want to make sure whatever we are doing is historically appropriate and honors the legacy of Engel Stadium.

"We feel like we did a good job of accomplishing this goal at Chamberlain Field. That could be an example of where we will end up, depending on what is able to work in the space.”

Chamberlain Field had an Oak Street grandstand dating to 1927 and one on Vine Street dating to 1948. Both were torn down, although the former playing field surface has remained as grassy greenspace, and some of the arched entrances to the stands were preserved, in part through the push of the late former UTC architecture professor and historic preservationist Dr. Gavin Townsend. They have been reused as frames for a small, pavilion-like area on the east side of the field.

Besides the grandstand, Engel Stadium is also currently surrounded by a large block wall.

After the announcement of the relocation of the Health Department, County Mayor Weston Wamp said in an on-air interview with Local 3 News that he has encouraged the preservation of Engel Stadium.

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