Gilroy Stadium

Gilroy Stadium is an abandoned athletic venue in Gleason Park in Gary, Indiana.

Table Of Contents
  1. History
  2. Gallery

Gilroy Stadium is an abandoned athletic venue in Gleason Park in Gary, Indiana. Conceived as a modern replacement for Gleason Field, a sports and recreation facility owned by U.S. Steel that had become uneven and dilapidated, the stadium reflected the city’s mid-century ambition to create a premier venue for school athletics and major public events. Designed by Beine, Curran & Hall, the facility was named for John F. Gilroy, Gary’s first athletic director. 3 14

History

The project moved forward on April 5, 1955, when the Gary City Council approved a $350,000 bond issue for the first 10,000-seat section of the future stadium. 1 Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on September 19, 1955, with Mayor Peter Mandich turning the first shovel of dirt for what was then described as a new $750,000 stadium in Gleason Park. 2 City leaders hoped it would open in time for Gary’s centennial celebration in 1956. Part of the financing came from $1.4 million in damages that had been awarded to the city by the Indiana Toll Road Commission.

As construction progressed, costs rose sharply. When work began in 1955, the initial estimate for the section was $350,000, then revised to $450,000. 3 By March 1956, however, the cost had climbed to $850,000, and on March 20, the city council was asked to transfer an additional $100,000 to the stadium fund. The architects maintained that the original estimates had been too low. 14 The project later became entangled in political corruption, and several politicians were convicted of obtaining kickbacks.

Gilroy Stadium was completed on June 10, 1956. 3 The finished facility included a press box, lighting, concession facilities, and even Ferris wheels as part of its early attractions. 14 In 1956, it also figured into a proposal for the Indiana University Gary Campus, with plans calling for an eventual expansion to 20,000 seats. 6 Those ambitions were never fully realized, and another proposal for an indoor gymnasium adjacent to the stadium, advanced by Mayor George Chacharis, also failed to materialize. 14

The new stadium quickly became a focal point for Gary athletics and civic life. It hosted the Steel-O-Rama, presented by a cast of 1,500, during Gary’s Golden Jubilee celebration held from June 9 to 17, 1956. 4 It served as the principal football venue for local high schools, including Emerson, Froebel, and Roosevelt, and Andrean High School also played games there. 14 Beyond football, the stadium hosted tennis matches and Football-O-Rama events. Its first major track and field competition, the Western Division meet, was held on April 23, 1960. 5

Despite its prominence, Gilroy Stadium had shortcomings. Its running track kept front-row spectators farther from the field than many preferred, limiting the intimacy of the viewing experience. 14 Even so, it remained one of the city’s most important public gathering places, used not only for athletics but also for concerts and community events.

The stadium also became part of Gary’s musical history. In 1965, the Jacksons won a talent search at Gilroy during the City Wide Jubilee. 14 After achieving national fame, they returned to Gary several times and performed at the stadium in 1969. Other musical acts also appeared there over the years, including Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Parliament-Funkadelic, which landed the Mothership at Gilroy in 1982, and The Dells.

Gilroy Stadium also intersected with the city’s political history. During the 1967 mayoral election, the Indiana National Guard used the stadium as its headquarters because officials feared riots might break out. 14 No riots occurred.

Decline

By the mid-1970s, however, the stadium’s decline had become pronounced. Gilroy closed in 1975. 14 Crime and deterioration increasingly defined the property and its surroundings. On March 6, 1975, a skeleton was found behind the stadium, 7 and on May 18, 1977, Earl Winborn was found shot to death in front of the facility. 8 High crime rates in Gary also discouraged events from coming to the city. 14 At the same time, the stadium itself suffered from severe physical problems. The playing field was sinking and becoming uneven, and the interior office area collapsed. These issues were compounded by the site’s unstable setting: the stadium had been built atop a city dump that operated from 1930 to 1951, on what had also been a sandy swamp. Pollution from the buried landfill remnants began leaking into the local water table.

Although regular scheduled events had largely faded by the 1980s, Gilroy Stadium did not become entirely dormant. It continued to host some festivals and occasional city-sponsored uses, including Gary Golden Bears football tryout camps. 11 A Hispanic Festival was held there on August 15, 1983. 12 On August 12, 1988, the stadium hosted a large fireworks display billed as one of the largest ever held in the nation, staged by the Pyrotechnics Guild International during its annual convention in the county. 9 10

Even in abandonment, the stadium remained a symbolic civic space. On March 10, 2001, it hosted a Ku Klux Klan rally after two months of legal battles between the city and the Klan, which had originally sought to gather on the steps of city hall. 13 The rally drew only about 25 KKK members for roughly 70 minutes, while 150 anti-KKK protesters, 50 members of the media, and 250 tactical police officers were also present.

Gallery

Sources

  1. “Plan New Stadium.” Journal and Courier, 7 Apr. 1955, p. 27.
  2. “Break Ground For New Gary Stadium.” Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, 19 Sept. 1955, p. 6.
  3. “Gary Stadium Cost Mounts.” The Truth, 22 MAr. 1956, p. 10.
  4. “Gary Will Hold Golden Jubilee.” Leader-Tribune, 9 Jun. 1956, p. 1.
  5. “Gilroy Oval Hosts Western Division Meet.” The Times, 21 Apr. 1960, p. 35.
  6. “IU Gary Campus Expanding Again.” The Indianapolis News, 23 Jun. 1966, p. 27.
  7. “Identity Nearer.” The Times, 14 Mar. 1975, p. 11.
  8. “Gary murder.” Muncie Evening Press, 18 May 1976, p. 7.
  9. “Fabulous Fireworks Show.” The Times, 12 Aug. 1988, p. D10.
  10. Wieland, Phillip. “Boom shouldn’t be a bust.” The Times, 10 Aug. 1988, p. A3.
  11. “Gary Golden Bears.” The Times, 17 May 1988, p. B2.
  12. “Hispanic Fest set.” The Times, 27 Jul. 1983, p. A7.
  13. Bird, Rich. “KKK vows to return.” The Times, 11 Mar. 2001, p. A1.
  14. Shepard, Korry. “Gilroy Stadium’s glory days now long gone.” The Times, 21 Aug. 2022, pp. B1-B11.

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