McCulloch Stadium

---

title: "McCulloch Stadium" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["college-football-venues-in-oregon", "willamette-bearcats-football", "athletics-(track-and-field)-venues-in-oregon", "college-track-and-field-venues-in-the-united-states", "soccer-venues-in-oregon", "sports-venues-completed-in-1950", "willamette-university-buildings", "tourist-attractions-in-salem,-oregon", "1950-establishments-in-oregon"] description: "Stadium in Salem, Oregon, US" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCulloch_Stadium" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Stadium in Salem, Oregon, US ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox venue"]

Field	Value
name	Charles McCulloch Stadium
image	McCullochStadium.JPG
image_size	240px
address	890 Mission Street SE
location	Salem, Oregon, U.S.
coordinates
mapframe	yes
mapframe-zoom	15
pushpin_map	USA#Oregon
pushpin_map_caption	Location in the United States##Location in Oregon
pushpin_mapsize	240
pushpin_label	Salem
pushpin_relief	yes
opened
renovated	1993
owner	Willamette University
operator	Willamette University
surface	FieldTurf
tenants	Willamette University (NCAA)
Portland Timbers U23s (USL2) (2017–)
seating_capacity	2,500
::

| name = Charles McCulloch Stadium | nickname = | image = McCullochStadium.JPG | image_size = 240px | caption = | address = 890 Mission Street SE | location = Salem, Oregon, U.S. | coordinates = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 15 | pushpin_map = USA#Oregon | pushpin_map_caption = Location in the United States##Location in Oregon | pushpin_mapsize = 240 | pushpin_label = Salem | pushpin_relief = yes | broke_ground = | opened = | renovated = 1993 | owner = Willamette University | operator = Willamette University | surface = FieldTurf | construction_cost = | architect = | former_names = | tenants = Willamette University (NCAA) Portland Timbers U23s (USL2) (2017–) | seating_capacity = 2,500 | website = McCulloch Stadium is a 2,500-seat outdoor stadium in the Northwestern United States, located in Salem, Oregon. Built in 1950, the multi-use facility serves as home to Willamette University's football and track & field teams, and high school football games. Located in Bush's Pasture Park south of Willamette's campus, the stadium includes a grandstand, football field, and track.

History

Charles E. McCulloch donated $50,000 to the school in June 1947 in order to build an athletic complex on 10 acres at what is now Bush's Pasture Park. At the time, McCulloch was president of the university's board of trustees and an attorney in Portland where he was a partner at what is now Stoel Rives. The proposed stadium was to have seating for 3,500 in a concrete grandstand, plus a baseball diamond, track, and practice field for the football team. It was also announced the stadium would be named for Charles E. McCulloch and have a total capacity of 7,000.

On October 14, 1950, a dedication ceremony was held with school president G. Herbert Smith and Oregon governor Douglas McKay on hand to welcome Hawaii and honor the 1941 Willamette team that was stranded in Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The New York Giants football team held their first scrimmage of the 1958 season at the stadium on July 31. Around 1970 the track surface was converted to an asphalt and rubber surface, which was resurfaced in the 1980s.

McCulloch Stadium went through a major renovation in 1993. After renovations, the field was named Ted Ogdahl Field in honor of the former coach while the locker rooms were dedicated in the honor of Jeff Knox.

A new $300,000 rekotan track surface was installed at the stadium in 2000. At that time university officials discovered the previous track was 6 m too long. In 2003 the grass field was removed and a new FieldTurf surface was installed at a cost of $500,000. Later that year lights were re-installed at McCulloch at a cost of $110,000. A new video scoreboard was added at the facility in 2007.

Sports

The stadium hosts a variety of sports. These include lacrosse, football, soccer, and track meets. McCulloch can seat 2,500 spectators. All seats at the stadium are in the covered grandstand on the west side of the playing surface. The grandstands include a press box, offices for the coaches, player locker rooms, and athletic training facilities.

McCulloch includes the eight lane Charles Bowles Track for the school's track teams. Next door is Spec Keene Stadium where the school's baseball team plays. The stadium also host high school football games, including OSAA playoff games.

References

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/McCulloch_Stadium_field.JPG" caption="Field from the east"] ::

References

1. (June 16, 1947). "$50,000 Received By Willamette". The Oregonian.
2. "Timeline". Stoel Rives LLP.
3. (October 14, 1950). "N.W. Conference Clubs Await Full Saturday Slate". The Oregonian.
4. (August 2, 1958). "NY Giants Hold First Scrimmage". [[The Bulletin (Bend).
5. Gault, Roy. (March 28, 2001). "Track back to proper length". Statesman Journal.
6. [http://www.salemhistory.net/education/willamette_university.htm Salem Online History: Willamette University]
7. Bachman, Rachel. (October 14, 2007). "Called into history". [[The Oregonian]].
8. English, Reid. (September 22, 2000). "Willamette gets improvement to athletic facilities". Statesman Journal.
9. (May 16, 2004). "Willamette University 2003-04 highlights". Statesman Journal.
10. English, Reid. (October 1, 2003). "McCulloch Stadium". Statesman Journal.
11. Hagan, Chris. (September 26, 2007). "Permit issue slows WU scoreboard plans". Statesman Journal.
12. link. (2007-09-29)
13. [http://www.trackcity.org/meets.htm Track City Track Club - USATF Youth Track & Field Club] {{webarchive. link. (2007-01-02)
14. (2007). "Bearcat Football 2007 Media Guide". Willamette University.
15. (March 13, 2024). "Why did Oregon lawmakers give $3M to a private university for sports fields in Salem?". Statesman Journal.
16. (December 2, 2006). "Class 5A matchups". [[Statesman Journal]].

::callout[type=info title="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. ::