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Ownby Stadium

Stadium in University Park, Texas, US

Field	Value
name	Ownby Stadium
pushpin_map	Texas#USA
pushpin_relief	yes
address	5800 Ownby Dr.
location	University Park, Texas
coordinates
broke_ground
opened
closed
demolished
owner	Southern Methodist University
operator	Southern Methodist University
seating_capacity	23,783
surface	Natural grass
acreage	1.2 acre
architect	DeWitt & Lemmon
builder	Osborne Engineering Co.
tenants	SMU Mustangs (NCAA) (1926–1948, 1989–1994)
Dallas Tornado (NASL) (1976–1979)
nrhp	{{Infobox NRHP
embed	yes
name	Jordan C. Ownby Stadium
architecture	Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival
added	September 27, 1980
delisted	September 23, 2004
mpsub	Georgian Revival Buildings of Southern Methodist University TR (AD)
refnum	80004093

Dallas Tornado (NASL) (1976–1979)

Ownby Stadium was a stadium in the University Park suburb of Dallas, Texas. It was the home of the Southern Methodist University Mustang football team. In late 1998, the stadium was demolished to build Gerald J. Ford Stadium at the site.

Background

Named for Jordon Ownby, the stadium was built at the south end of the campus. There was controversy at the time of the stadium's inception, as the school had spent the gift from Ownby on a stadium (per his wishes) rather than a full-sized library, which the school did not have at the time.

As the Mustangs rose to prominence in the 1930s, they began scheduling an increasing number of games at the much larger Cotton Bowl, and finally moved there on a permanent basis in 1948, while later moving to Texas Stadium. However, after massive rules violations resulted in the NCAA handing down the "death penalty" in 1987, SMU officials decided to move football games back to a heavily renovated Ownby Stadium.

From 1976 to 1979 the chief tenant at Ownby was the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League.

The 23,783-seat stadium consisted of four grandstands, one on each side, with the west (home) side being larger than the rest. In late 1998, the stadium was demolished to make way for Gerald J. Ford Stadium, which stands on the same site.

References

(February 3, 1981). "National Register of Historic Places". [[National Park Service]].
{{NRISref
[https://www.smu.edu/enrollment_services/Newsltters/2005/Vol_IV/Apr05.htm ''DES Newsletter'']{{Dead link. (October 2025)
"SMU Football - Historical Information".
(November 6, 1998). "SMU demolishes 72-year-old stadium to build new home". [[Abilene Reporter-News]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

dallas-tornado-sports-facilities american-football-venues-in-the-dallas–fort-worth-metroplex buildings-and-structures-demolished-in-1998 defunct-college-football-venues defunct-soccer-venues-in-the-united-states smu-mustangs-football-venues soccer-venues-in-texas sports-venues-in-dallas north-american-soccer-league-(1968–1984)-stadiums former-national-register-of-historic-places-in-texas

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