Business View Magazine | November 2019

194 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019 AT A GLANCE THE WASHINGTON–GRIZZLY STADIUM WHAT: An outdoor college football stadium WHERE: The University of Montana in Missoula, Montana WEBSITE: www.gogriz.com/facilities/?id=1 ASHINGTON–GRIZZLY T he Washington–Grizzly Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium located on the campus of the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. It is home to the Montana Grizzlies, a member of the Big Sky Conference and a team in the NCAA Division I-FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). The inaugural game at Washington–Grizzly Stadium was played in mid-season in 1986. Between 1968 and 1986, the Griz played off-campus at the “new” Dornblaser Field, and prior to that, from 1920–1967, they played on-campus at the “old” Dornblaser Field (both named for Paul Dornblaser, football captain in 1912 who was killed in World War I). Plans for a new 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, Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The initial cost of the Stadium was around $3.2 million. In the spring of 1995, the facility underwent its first expansion in the north and south end zones. At that time there were 12,500 permanent seats. The cost of that expansion was about $2.5 million. The second expansion occurred in the spring and summer of 2003; approximately 4,000 seats were added to the north end zone section at a cost of around $3.5 million, boosting the stadium capacity to HOME OF THE GRIZ STADIUM