Stadium History & Namesake
The plans for an on-campus football facility at Montana came to fruition in August of 1985 when Missoula businessman Dennis R. Washington and the employees of Washington Corporations provided a gift of $1 million, hence the name of Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The cost of the stadium was around $3.2 million.
There are 49 private boxes located on the east and west sides of the stadium, and they are individually decorated and furnished.
Stadium Expansions
Washington-Grizzly Stadium underwent its third expansion, at a cost of approximately $6.5 million, prior to the 2008 football season. The eastside expansion now houses a 500-seat "Stadium Club" with two membership levels: the "Canyon Room" has 125 seats inside and 125 seats outside, and the "Hellgate Terrace," which has 250 seats.
The recent expansion provided 375 Grizzly Scholarship Association priority seats, which are located between the 25-and-40-yard lines and on both sides of the 50-yard line, as well as 1,150 non-priority seats located on the 10-to-25-yard lines. This expansion increased the current seating capacity of Washington- Grizzly Stadium to 25,217.
The second expansion occurred in the spring and summer of 2003, and approximately 4,000 seats were added to the north end zone section, increasing the stadium capacity to 23,183, with a cost around $3.5 million.
In the spring of 1995 the stadium underwent its first expansion in the north and south end zones. At that time there were 12,500 permanent seats, and seating was available, weather-permitting, in the grass end zones, which made the capacity around 15,000. The cost of that expansion was about $2.5 million.
GrizVision, a state-of-the-art video and message center, was added in 2002. GrizVision displays game statistics, player profiles, digital replays, and shots of the crowd. The screen is one of the largest in the FCS, measuring 26 feet by 36 feet, and it came from New York City and Times Square.
A natural-grass stadium gave way to Sprinturf prior to the 2001 season at a cost of about $1 million, which was paid for by an anonymous donor. The field was named "John Hoyt Field" in 2001 at the request of the anonymous donor, in honor of Hoyt, a long-time Grizzly booster, who passed away in March of that year. A new Sprinturf playing surface was installed prior to the 2008 season.
From Go Griz