Oakley High School Stadium

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 6, 2024

1. Oakley High School Stadium Marker

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From the National Register Nomination prepared by Valerie Brown-Kuchera, Gifted Facilitator for Oakley Schools; Jerrik Keller, (student); Kyndal Maurath, (student); & Levi Hefner, (student), 5/20/2011:
The construction of Oakley High School Stadium was financed through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the facility has hosted football games and track meets since its completion in 1939. It is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places for its local significance in the areas of Entertainment/Recreation and Government and in the area of Architecture. It is nominated as part of the New Deal-era Resources of Kansas multiple property submission and is an example of the Social and Recreational property type.

Located in northwest Kansas, Logan County was situated within one of the hardest hit areas of the Dust Bowl, which encompassed all of western Kansas, eastern Colorado, and the panhandles of Oklahoma and

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 6, 2024

2. Oakley High School Stadium Marker

The marker is mounted on the east facade of the building, just to the left of the 621 Center Street entrance.

Texas. As a result of the tough economic times, Oakley leaders sought funding and labor assistance through federal New Deal programs, including the WPA.

Work began on the stadium in late 1938, probably after the football season ended. Lewis Mershon was the lead builder for the stadium project. According to his son, Jerry Mershon, his father was the project director and the foreman. Using a team of only unskilled laborers made up of local farmers who were struggling financially, Lewis Mershon was able to complete the project to specifications and within budget.

The limestone used for the project was quarried locally. Men did all of the work by hand with only a gas powered saw to cut the large blocks. According to Delma Dible, a local historian and descendant of one of the workmen, workers carried their lunch with them at 7:00a.m. when a truck picked them up at the railroad roundhouse. They then worked until 7:00 p.m. when they were returned to Oakley, 18 miles from the limestone quarry.

Excerpt:The Oakley High School Stadium, also known as Irwin Stadium, Irwin Field and as KHRI# 109-51, in Oakley, Kansas was built in 1939 by a New Deal works program, the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 6, 2024

3. Oakley High School Stadium
(east/Center Street elevation)

first usage of the stadium was on October 6, 1939, for "the annual football classic" between the Oakley Plainsmen versus the Colby Eagles, a night game under new floodlights, in which the Plainsmen were "trounced." The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 9, 2013.

Excerpt:  The construction of Oakley High School Stadium in 1938 was financed through the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) and has hosted football games and track meets since its completion in 1939. The limestone and concrete stadium faces a standard 100-yard football field with natural grass surface encircled by a 400-meter track and includes two locker rooms, restrooms, a tornado shelter, and outdoor bleacher seating. It exhibits symmetry, vertical and horizontal lines, and rounded features, all of which gives it a WPA Moderne appearance.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 6, 2024

4. Oakley High School Stadium (southeast elevation)

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 6, 2024

5. Oakley High School Stadium (northeast elevation)

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 6, 2024

6. Oakley High School Stadium (north/front/West 7th Avenue elevation)

From the National Register Nomination:  The physical appearance of the building is marked by symmetrical construction of limestone blocks. The stadium's north façade faces West 7th Street and features nine bays defined by projecting stone columns. The central bay features a bell tower, which has been modified to accommodate a newer announcer's box. Each bay flanking the central tower includes two original 20-pane steel windows with hoppers. According to Warren Park, a 1966 Oakley High School graduate, the bell that used to be in the tower of the stadium disappeared shortly after his graduation. The bell had been removed to make way for the press box that was constructed.