Stadium-smitten: The state's best high-school football stadiums

Friday night lights: They are part of the American landscape and culture.

But Friday nights in some places in Washington are more special than others. Sure, a winning team is the key to enjoyment, but a stadium with character is part of the package.

The quest was to pick my 20 favorite stadiums. As with columns on the state's best gyms (No. 1 Mount Vernon) and baseball fields (No. 1 Propstra Stadium at Hudson's Bay in Vancouver, Wash.), the football fields were visited on non-game days before color-coordinated throngs descended.

There are a lot of fine stadiums in the state. But the problem with many is that they look so similar. That's why they didn't make the cut.

My criteria was "field with an aura." Subjective? Absolutely. And yes, I give bonus points for history.

"Perfect fields" would be all grass, not have tracks around them and have bleachers on both sides of the field. But I was lenient because most high-school fields have to serve many needs. In most places, school and community soccer combined with football to reduce grass to bare dirt in a month.

I talked to coaches, athletic directors and sportswriters from around the state before compiling a list of candidate stadiums. Then the rubber met the road for more than 1,500 miles by the time all the separate trips were completed.

This isn't a list of best places to go to soak up Friday night atmosphere — that carnival of food, on-field collisions, interesting people and music. Some of these schools don't win very often, and fervor falls far short of over-the-edge. It is a list of my 20 favorite stadiums, special places for a special time of year:

Stadium Bowl, Tacoma (Stadium, Wilson). Talk about history! Speakers who appeared at the stadium over the years included presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding. Babe Ruth played an exhibition baseball game in Stadium Bowl. Washington State played Penn State and Texas A&M in the bowl in the 1940s.

The stadium opened in 1910. The adjoining high school opened in 1906 and was originally designed as a luxury hotel that was supposed to resemble a French castle. The school was originally Tacoma High School but changed its name to Stadium.

The original capacity was 32,000, but it now seats 17,000. James M. Catalinich, Stadium High School athletic director, a Stadium alumnus who did a term paper about the facility 33 years ago, said it is believed to be the site of the first night football game on the West Coast. Lanterns, including some strung in the air across the stadium, were used for illumination.

Catalinich said Tacoma children raised $25,000 to help build the stadium and area businessmen also raised $25,000. The stadium used to extend closer to Puget Sound and some place-kicks landed in Commencement Bay. Storms and earthquakes throughout the decades have led to a reduction in size.

Edgar Brown Stadium, Pasco. The $4 million remodeling of Edgar Brown Stadium with its capacity of 6,800 isn't completed, but it nonetheless is one of the best high-school facilities in the state. This athletic palace proved it last spring as the site of the 3A-4A state track meet.

Pasco athletic director Le Burns said Edgar Brown donated what was once a gravel pit to the school district in 1953 rather than comply with a city order to fill it back up. The Lions Club spearheaded the movement to make the site a stadium, and there were dreams at one time of having it seat 40,000.

Donations in the remodeling project have ranged from $100,000 by some individuals to $7 from folks who paid that much for what amounts to an "artificial-turf certificate." The name of all donors is on a plaque.

Olympic Stadium, Hoquiam: You don't forget this place. It's a wooden football-baseball stadium completed in 1937 by the Works Progress Administration and can accommodate crowds of 8,500.

"As far as I know, we are the only city in the state of Washington that could put its entire population under cover," boasted Mayor Roger Jump, who has run the town's Babe Ruth baseball program for a quarter-century.

Kiggins Bowl, Vancouver (Hudson's Bay, Fort Vancouver, Skyview). This is a WPA project in a forested setting. All paths to the stadium lead through woods. The grandstand has an arc shape and features 23 stately support columns.

"When the full moon comes up in September, it's the most beautiful setting in the whole world," said Ellen Boggs, Vancouver director of athletics.

Pop Keeney Stadium, Bothell (Inglemoor, Woodinville, Bothell). OK, I confess, I'm from Bothell and this is a sentimental favorite. I even knew Pop Keeney before he died in 1962. This is a wonderful, shared facility with good concessions, lighting and sightlines. You are usually guaranteed an entertaining time here, because Inglemoor might be the most spirited school in the state, Bothell fans have become "Blue Train" fanatics with the success of the past 1-1/2 seasons, and there always seems to be a Tuiasosopo running wild for Woodinville.

Stewart Field, Aberdeen. Athletic director Derek Cook said, "If anyone ever wanted to make a movie about football in the early 1900s, I would offer Stewart Field as a film location."

Blue-and-gold-covered stands border three sides of the field, and the open end faces the Wishkah River, into which a strong kicker can splash a ball.

Cook said football was played on the site before 1910, and the grandstands were built in the 1920s. They have remodeled repeatedly but retain a lot of the original support struts, plus the original flavor.

Cook said, "After the lights have all been turned out, there is a real feel to that place. You can still feel the humanity there. We used to joke that the ghosts of ancient Bobcats were happy after a win."

Prosser. Talk about color-coordinated! The brown of the track blends with the brown of the grandstand at Art Fiker Stadium, built in the early 1980s. Added touches are a silhouette statue of the mascot Mustang and green vegetation at both ends of the grandstand.

This is a community that cares about football and won three state championships in the 1990s. This stadium has a reputation for good food, too.

"They sell so many hamburgers and hotdogs that I don't think anyone in town eats for a couple days after a game," said longtime fan Bob Yahn.

Apple Bowl, Wenatchee. A fire in the early 1990s that burned down the stands on one sideline was the impetus to remodel and improve the facility. The track was removed and new stands installed.

Football coach Doug Preston has a simple explanation for why the grass seems as perfect as Augusta National Golf Club: "We baby it."

Cascade of Leavenworth. The field is at what used to be Peshastin-Dryden High School. That school consolidated with Leavenworth High School in 1984 to form Cascade High School, now 2A. The decision was made to use the old Peshastin-Dryden field, and it was a wise choice. The field is in a beautiful setting next to the Wenatchee River. A special treat is the homecoming game when locals shoot off fireworks by the riverbank.

Adna High School. A forest surrounds three sides of this Lewis County field west of Chehalis. At one end of the field, field goals and extra points fly into the woods and down a steep hill.

The field originally was only 80 yards long, because that was all that was needed for six-man football. The Pirates switched to eight-man football and a 100-yard field in the 1950s. Today, they play 11-man football in the 1A classification.

The steeply sloped grandstand was built in 1928.

"You can just feel the history," said Terri Sells, who has had three sons play on the field. "The stands are rustic. It's a real community feeling."

Snohomish. Football is important to the folks here, and this large, functional stadium shows the commitment. The stadium has a big press box and effective decorative use of red, which is the school's main color. The ROTC always presents the colors before games. Sirens from ambulances and a cannon sound when the Panthers score, which tends to be often.

Arlington. This is a new stadium, and they did it right. Named John C. Larson Stadium, it has golf-club quality grass, bright stands and a nice background of forest as home fans look east.

Memorial Stadium, Seattle (Garfield, Franklin, Roosevelt, Ballard, Cleveland). No stadium with this capacity — 14,000 — has better sightlines. The problem is that Memorial rarely hosts a game that draws more than 2,000. And the parking is expensive. Still, it's a wonderful place chock-full of history because every great Seattle football player since the late 1940s has played here.

Jefferson County Memorial Field, Port Townsend (Port Townsend, Chimacum). Location, location, location. This wonderful downtown stadium, which also has a high-school baseball field, is only one block from the bay and one block from downtown. It used to feature "cheapskate hill," where freeloaders could watch the game for free, but new homes have made it tougher to watch without a ticket. Two cannons greet visitors at the main entrance, and a monument near the flagpole is dedicated to Vietnam vets. The flag for that dedication ceremony arrived via Huey helicopter.

Everett Memorial, Everett (Jackson, Everett, Cascade). This is a 10,000-seat, functional stadium built in 1947, and it has some nice touches, such as the landscaping at the north end of the field. It is part of the Everett School District complex that includes the minor-league baseball park where Everett High School plays. Football fans at day or early season games can have a wonderful view of the Cascades.

King's High School, Shoreline. This is a gem in Seattle's backyard. George B. Woolsey Stadium used to be part of the grounds of the Firland Sanatorium (tuberculosis hospital) that later became the campus of the 1A Christian school. Woolsey was the groundskeeper and required athletes decades ago to spend time removing rocks from the field. That work has paid off with a well-groomed field in a lovely setting.

Odessa. The grandstand for Finney Field was built in 1941 and includes a team room where generations of players have written their names on the walls.

Coach Bruce Todd once said, "You walk in there and smell the sweat, years of sweat in there."

The school, which plays 11-man football, is 35 miles northeast of Moses Lake.

Mount Baker, Deming. The mountain is in the background of the red, wooden stands on the campus of this 2A school in Whatcom County. A large wooden sign atop the stands proclaims, "Home of the Mount Baker Mountaineers."

Concrete. Visiting teams have to drive under part of the school to get to the field, which is surrounded by a living-picture postcard of the Cascade foothills. The rustic stands are painted purple and gold.

Fran Rish Stadium, Richland (Richland, Hanford). Old-timers still call it "Bomber Bowl" (Richland Bombers), but the fact Hanford has shared it since 1972 makes the name Rish Stadium politically correct. The grass used to disappear from too much use late in the season, but new treatments are keeping it green longer. One nice touch is a knoll on the visitors' side where families can spread blankets and watch the game.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com