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{{short description|American college football stadium in Massachusetts}}
{{other uses|Alumni Stadium (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
| name       = Alumni Stadium
| fullname           =
| former_names       =
| nickname           = ''Alumni''
|logo_image         = Boston_College_Eagles_wordmark.svg
|logo_size          = 100
|image              = Alumni Stadium Boston College 2023 (Quintin Soloviev).png
|image_size         =  
|caption            = The stadium from above in 2023
| address           = 140 Commonwealth Avenue 
| city              = [[Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts|Chestnut Hill, MA]] 
| country           = United States
| location           = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|42|20|6|N|71|09|59|W|type:landmark|display=it}}
| pushpin_map       = Massachusetts#United States
| pushpin_relief    = 1
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Massachusetts##Location in the United States
|broke_ground       = April 15, 1957<ref name="construction">{{cite book |last1=Oslin|first1=Reid|last2=Flutie|first2=Doug|title=Tales From The Boston College Sideline|year=2004|url=https://archive.org/details/talesfrombostonc0000osli|url-access=registration|quote=alumni stadium architect.|access-date=September 29, 2011|publisher=Sports Publishing LLC|location=Champaign, Illinois|isbn=1-58261-546-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/talesfrombostonc0000osli/page/109 109]}}</ref>
|opened             = {{start date and age|1957|09|21}}
|expanded           = 1971, 1995
|renovated          = 1995
|closed             =
|demolished         =
|owner              = [[Boston College]]
|operator           = Boston College 
|surface            = [[AstroTurf|AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D60H]]<br>(2012–present)
'''Former surfaces''':
{{collapsible list|
* 1957–1969 Grass
* 1970–2003 [[AstroTurf]]
* 2004–2012 [[FieldTurf]]
}}
|construction_cost  = US$350,000<br>(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|350000|1957}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}})
|architect          = M. A. Dyer Company<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bpl.org/online/sportstemples/temple.php?temple_id=1 |title=Architect's Drawing of the New Boston College Gymnasium and Football Stadium |access-date=2012-06-07 |archive-date=2010-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425043536/http://www.bpl.org/online/sportstemples/temple.php?temple_id=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|general_contractor = Bowen Construction Co.
|tenants            = [[Boston College Eagles football]] ([[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]])<br> (1957–present)<br>[[Boston Patriots]] ([[American Football League|AFL]]) (1969)
|seating_capacity   = 44,500 (1995–present)
'''Former capacity''':
{{collapsible list|
* 32,000 (1971–1994)
* 26,000 (1957–1970)
}}
|website = {{URL|https://bceagles.com/facilities/alumni-stadium/2|bceagles.com/alumni-stadium}}
}}
'''Alumni Stadium''' is a [[college football]] [[stadium]] on the lower campus of [[Boston College]] in [[Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts]]. It is about {{convert|6|mi}} west of downtown [[Boston]], just inside the Boston city limits near the border with [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Citywide Maps {{!}} Bostonplans.org |url=https://www.bostonplans.org/3d-data-maps/map-library/citywide-maps |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=City of Boston Planning Department |language=en}}</ref> It is the home of the [[Boston College Athletics#Football|Boston College Eagles]] football program and also hosts lacrosse games on occasion. Its [[seating capacity]] is 44,500.

==History==
[[File:BCalumnifield.jpg|left|thumb|Alumni Field, the precursor to Alumni Stadium, {{Circa|1920}}]]
{{visible anchor|Alumni Field}}, [[Boston College]]'s first stadium, opened in 1915 and was just south of Gasson Quadrangle on the site of the present Stokes Hall, an academic building for the humanities that opened in 2013. Before the building of Stokes, the area was known as The Dustbowl, a nickname that originated as a description of Alumni Field in the years when it was used as a practice field, a baseball diamond, and a running track. Formally dedicated "as a memorial to the boys that were" on October 30, 1915, Alumni Field and its "maroon goal-posts on a field of green" were hailed in that evening's edition of the ''Boston Saturday Evening Transcript'' as "one of the sights in Boston". The original grandstands, which could accommodate 2,200 spectators in 1915, were enlarged over the subsequent years to 25,000. Nonetheless, Alumni Field often proved too small for BC football games, which were frequently held at [[Fenway Park]], and later [[Braves Field]], beginning in the 1930s.

On September 21, 1957, Alumni Stadium opened on Boston College's lower campus. The new stadium incorporated a football field encircled by a regulation track with a [[seating capacity]] of 26,000. The dedication game, a match-up with the [[Navy Midshipmen football|Midshipmen]] of the [[United States Naval Academy|U.S. Naval Academy]], was orchestrated with the help of Boston College benefactor and then [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[John F. Kennedy]]. Kennedy, who received his honorary degree at Commencement Exercises in Alumni Field the previous year, returned to Alumni Stadium on a number of occasions, including to give the 1963 Convocation Address, one of his last public appearances prior to his [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination on November 22, 1963]].

Alumni Stadium in its present form has hosted 42 sellout crowds of 44,500 or greater, most recently on November 1, 2025 against [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-10 |title=Alumni Stadium Sells Out For Boston College’s Game Against Syracuse, The Rundown: November 10, 2024 |url=https://www.si.com/college/bostoncollege/all-things-bc/alumni-stadium-sells-out-for-boston-college-s-game-against-syracuse-the-rundown-november-10-2024-01jc95ygkt7t#:~:text=Alumni%20Stadium%20recorded%2044,500%20fans,the%20second%20of%20the%20season. |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=Boston College Eagles On SI |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Renovations===
[[File:AlumniStadium1.jpg|thumb|left|The stadium grandstand and boxes in 2008]]
[[File:Inside of Alumni Stadium Boston College 2023 (Quintin Soloviev).png|thumb|left|Alumni Stadium in 2023]]
In 1971, the stadium was expanded to 32,000 seats and artificial turf and lights were installed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bceagles.com/sports/2015/8/14/GamedayA-Z-Football.aspx|title=Alumni Stadium: A to Z|website=www.bc.edu}}</ref> The stadium was rebuilt again in 1988, adding near-identical upper decks on each sideline as well as a new press box, built into the new Conte Forum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bceagles.com/sports/2015/8/14/GamedayA-Z-Football.aspx|title=Alumni Stadium: A to Z|website=www.bc.edu}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{official website}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
 | title = Home of the<br>[[Boston Patriots]]
 | years = 1969
 | before = [[Fenway Park]]
 | after = [[Harvard Stadium]]
}}
{{end}}

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[[Category:American Football League venues]]
[[Category:Boston College Eagles football venues]]
[[Category:Boston Patriots (AFL) stadiums]]
[[Category:Defunct athletics (track and field) venues in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct NFL venues]]
[[Category:Sports venues in Boston]]
[[Category:1957 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1957]]
[[Category:Boston Minutemen]]
[[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums]]