Boone Pickens Stadium, formerly known as Lewis Field, is home to the Oklahoma State University college football program.

	Capacity		60,000
	Opened		1914
	Owner		Oklahoma State University
	Operator		Oklahoma State University
	Surface		FieldTurf
	Location		Hall of Fame Ave at Hester St Stillwater, OK 74078

Boone Pickens Stadium, the home of Oklahoma State Football, is a far cry from what the student body expected when they were renaming the field before the 1914 football season. Lewis Field, much like the Cowboy football program, was left largely neglected and enjoyed only modest renovations throughout its near-century of existence. However, this all changed in recent history. With the resurgence of Cowboy football sparked by the 2001 16-13 victory over Oklahoma in the annual Bedlam game and the subsequent 2002 Houston Bowl season, interest soon returned to a major overhaul of Lewis Field. An ambitious fund-raising project for the Lewis Field renovation dubbed “The Next Level” became the flagship efforts of the Oklahoma State athletic department, and has been a rousing success thanks in large part to the philanthrophy of Boone Pickens.

In 1914, the student body named the “Athletic Field” after Lowery Laymon Lewis. A former dean of veterinary medicine and of science and literature from Oklahoma A&M, Dr. Lewis was one of the most popular figures in the school’s history.

In addition to his duties as dean and instructor at OAMC, Lewis served as the school’s acting president in 1914. Instrumental in the development of experimental stations around the state under his brief administration, OAMC established the first school of commerce and marketing in the nation.

“Doctor Lew” was highly respected by the school’s student body, which named the football field “Lewis Field” in his honor prior to 1914. The university’s first yearbook from 1914 is dedicated to Dr. Lewis. While the playing field bore his name (thus two references as Lewis Field and Lewis Stadium), OAMC installed grandstand seats in 1920, pushing capacity to 8,000. The stadium originally was positioned in the traditional north-south direction, but switched to east-west to avoid the strong prevailing winds.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

[ Anything to add? Spotted an error? Click here to improve this entry ]

The ACC.com - The Official website of the Atlantic Coast Conference
NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association website
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma State Cowboys

[ Anything to add? Spotted an error? Click here to improve this entry ]