Scheumann Stadium
Scheumann Stadium, formerly known as Ball State Stadium, is in Muncie, Indiana. It is primarily used for football, and it is the home field of the Ball State University Cardinals. The stadium opened in 1967, and it has a capacity of 22,500 for football games.
History
Anticipating rapid growth after transitioning from a teacher's college to a comprehensive college, the Ball State University Board of Trustees approved construction of a new athletic stadium one mile north of campus in 1965. The stadium was completed in 1967 with a capacity of 16,000 for football. It replaced the previous stadium closer to campus, on University Avenue across from Ball Memorial Hospital. The site is now used as a soccer field for Burris Laboratory School. A grandstand on the south end of the stadium was added in the 1990s, increasing the capacity to 22,500. In 2005, the stadium was renamed after Ball State alumni and benefactors John B. and June M. Scheumann.Today
In 2007, a $13 million renovation of the stadium was completed. Planned improvements included new lighting for night games, enclosing the north end zone with lawn seating to create a 22,500-seat horseshoe-shaped venue, new concession stands, a brick facade, a larger press box, and private luxury suites. On August 29, 2013, a new video board was installed.For a time, notable Ball State alumnus David Letterman jokingly campaigned via his television program to have the stadium named after him. When the stadium was named after the Scheumanns for their donations to the university, Indianapolis mayor Bart Peterson joked that the city would rename the I-465 Beltway as the David Letterman Expressway. Indianapolis was Letterman's childhood home town.