Rice Stadium

Significance

Rice Stadium opened on September 30, 1950, as the home of the Rice Owls football team. Designed by Hermon Lloyd & W. B. Morgan and Milton McGinty, with structural engineer Walter P Moore and contractor Brown & Root, it was built in less than a year for about $3.3 million. Its simple, unadorned modern design places the lower bowl below ground level and leaves out a running track, bringing fans close to the field, and its upper decks angle inward for better sightlines. On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered his "We choose to go to the Moon" speech here, one of the most famous addresses of the space age. The stadium also hosted Super Bowl VIII in January 1974, and it served as home to the University of Houston Cougars and the American Football League's Houston Oilers in earlier years.

Climate risks tracked

A large open concrete bowl absorbs and radiates heat, which makes early season games dangerous for players and fans. Shade structures, cooling stations, and reflective surfaces in concourses reduce heat stress without changing the stadium's clean modern lines. Because the lower seating bowl sits below ground, drainage is critical during the intense downpours that Houston storms bring. Pumps, drains, and the field's subsurface system need regular maintenance. Exposed concrete can crack and its steel reinforcement can corrode as moisture enters, and Houston's shifting clay adds stress, so ongoing concrete repair with compatible materials is the key long term preservation task as Rice plans future renovations.

Use the preservation assistant to talk through retrofit strategies for these specific threats.

Location

Nearby landmarks

• 1912 · Byzantine-Mediterranean 'Rice style'

  Lovett Hall, Rice University

• 1949 · Modern with Art Deco influence

  Fondren Library, Rice University