GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Houseman Stadium, a community staple and hub for Grand Rapids sports fans, celebrated its 102nd birthday this year with a $5.1 million renovation.
Located near the cross-section where Fountain Street meets Diamond Avenue, Grand Rapids Public Schools’ (GRPS) Houseman Field is an 8,000-seat multipurpose stadium hosting high school athletics and graduation ceremonies, along with track and field/rugby games for nearby Aquinas College.
GRPS leaders say the newly-updated stadium, at 162 Houseman Ave. NE, will preserve Grand Rapids history while allowing students to make more.
Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Leadriane Roby said “for generations, Houseman Field has been more than just a stadium. It has been a gathering place and a landmark for the city of Grand Rapids and a symbol of our pride.
She said investing in high school athetics is necessary to help scholars develop skills in team work, discipline and perseverance, “lessons that will carry them far beyond the game.”
Dariana Weaver, a 10th-grade volleyball, basketball and track and field athlete at Ottawa Hills, said the investment in the stadium tells us that “the community sees our potential, too.”
“We know that we’re not just competing for ourselves,” she said. “We’re competing for everyone who stands behind us.”
The project was funded through a $305 million Reimagine GRPS bond that voters passed in November 2023. Around $12 million of that will cover renovations to athletic facilities.
The $5.1 million Houseman renovation centers around a new turf field, which was painted with the GRPS logo, along with the Bengals logo for Ottawa Hills High School and the Redhawk logo for Union High School.
Alex Smart, executive director of facilities and operations for GRPS, said the district also chose to honor the history of Houseman field athletics by flying five flags that represent all the past schools that have competed there: Central High School, Creston High School, Ottawa Hills High, South High School and Union High.
The renovation also allowed the district to honor the Houseman family – for which the stadium is named – for the first time, Smart said. Houseman is painted in both end zones.
The stadium was named after the former Grand Rapids mayor and Congressman Julius Houseman, whose daughter donated the land to the Grand Rapids Board of Education in 1907, with the stipulation that it always be used for sports.
Houseman stadium itself was not built until 1923.
While most of the historic features remain unchanged, the renovation did include some necessary upgrades, like a new press box roof and mortar joints and new counters for the stadium concession stand nearest to Houseman Ave.
The field also got a new blue and grey track to replace the previous pink-colored one.
Other changes funded through the renovation project were meant to both bring in community members and better the experience for those living around the stadium, Smart said.
That includes the addition of new LED stadium lights designed to diminish light pollution.
“I think our neighbors will be a little bit happier because it’s not going to be shining on their houses,” he said.
The home team locker rooms were also soundproofed, Smart said, to improve some acoustics issues.
“It’s not going to hurt your ears now.”
And the parking area off of Houseman Ave. was expanded to account for high visitor traffic, with the lot north of the stadium now accommodating 37 total spots and 12 handicap parking spaces.
The first game in the new Houseman Stadium will be a Thursday, Sept. 18 soccer game between Ottawa Hills and Union High School. On Friday, the district will host Ottawa Hills’ homecoming game, returning the following week for Union High School’s homecoming.
“Let’s honor Houseman Field as a place where champions are made and dreams take place,” Roby said.
State Rep. Carol Glanville, D-Walker, who spoke during a ribbon cutting event for the stadium, said she was a former cross country, track and field hockey coach who spent time on field that “didn’t look like this.”
“The pride, the confidence that comes from being able to play in a space that looks like a real deal, that looks professional, that has your mascots in the end zone that you are running forward to score with, it just makes such a difference,” she said.
“I know that this is going to be a place that people will come to with pride, and they will leave with pride, and we will see more engagement in our athletics,” she added.
Nathan Mayfield III, a 12th-grade tennis, track, basketball and golf athlete at Union High School, said it’s a lot of history at Houseman, and a “big legacy to carry on for our future athletes and those ones that we have currently.
“I’m just excited to see everybody play their hearts out,” he said.