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The long-time dream of an on-campus football facility was initiated in August of 1985, as Missoula businessman Dennis R. Washington and the employees of Washington Corporations provided a gift of $1 million. In December of 1985, excavation crews began work. In recognition of the gift by Washington and his company, UM’s new facility was named Washington Grizzly Stadium.

The playing surface is about 20 feet below ground level. An estimated 4,500 yards of concrete were poured in the project. The field area inside the stadium is 182 feet wide by 402 feet from end-to-end.

In conjunction with the building of the stadium, additional parking and practice fields were built. The Grizzlies are able to practice on the campus on an area which has the dimensions of four full-size football fields. A 200-space parking lot south of the stadium was also added.

There are 48 private boxes located on the east and west sides of the stadium. They are individually decorated and furnished by their respective owners.

The press box located above the private boxes on the west side includes radio and television broadcast booths, electronic and print media seating, coaches’ scouting boxes, a public address booth, and an area for the scoreboard operators. The Missoula Homebuilders Association built the press box, primarily with volunteer labor.

Former Montana President Neil Bucklew, former Athletic Director Harley Lewis, and the board of directors of the UM Foundation were all instrumental in the construction of the stadium.

Stadium Expansions

The stadium was first expanded in the spring of 1995 with end zone seating on both the north and south sides, and a few more addtional seats were added in 2002, bringing the capacity to 19,005. Prior to the 1995 expansion there were 12,500 permanent seats. (When the grass end zones were available, the capacity was approximately 15,000).

A public address system was added for the 1996 season. The system provides a maximum of 103 decibels at each seat, as well as in each private suite.

New men’s locker rooms, cover more than 4,000 square feet, housing football, basketball, track and cross country were also added and are located below the entry level on the west side of the stadium.

When Adams Center, which is adjacent to the stadium, was renovated in 1999, a new 7,000 square foot weight room, a 4,500 square foot athletic treatment center, the Jacobson Academic Center and meeting room with big screen videos were added. In addition, a new women’s locker room covering 4,000 square feet, a 3,200 square foot equipment center, and three new meeting rooms totaling 2,000 square feet were added.

The natural-grass stadium gave way to SprinTurf for the 2001 season. A million dollars was given by an anonymous donor for the new playing surface. The field was named “John Hoyt Field” at the request of the anonymous donor, in honor of a long-time Grizzly booster.

For the 2002 season, Griz Vision was added, featuring a state of the art message center which features game statistics, player profiles, digital replays, and shots of the crowd. The Griz Vision screen is the largest in the NCAA Division I College Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), measuring 26 feet by 36 feet and was brought in from Times Square in New York City.

The facility underwent its second expansion in the spring and summer of 2003, as approximately 4,000 seats were added on to the north end zone section of Washington Grizzly Stadium, which increased the capacity to 23,117.

Stadium expansion once again occurred following the 2007 season. The east side of Washington-Grizzly Stadium underwent renovations which added around 2,000 seats made up of box seating and additional suites. Capacity is now 25,200.