Aug. 23, 2005
- Photo Gallery (featuring large images of each new feature in the Stadium)
There is a whole new look in and around Notre Dame Stadium, for the 75th anniversary of the University’s renowned football facility.
Thanks to funding provided by the Notre Dame Monogram Club, here’s what you can see:
• Positioned in the 195 portals of the original Stadium walls (now visible in the lower bowl concourse), there now are individual, four-by-10-foot, mesh banners with old-school, black-and-white photos highlighting Notre Dame’s 11 consensus national championship seasons, its 139 first-team football All-Americans, its seven Heisman Trophy winners, its five national championship coaches and its eight representatives in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• Hanging from the ceiling around the lower concourse are 15 full-color, 12-by-15-foot banners – 10 of them featuring action shots of members of the 2005 Irish squad, and five featuring the 75th anniversary logo for Notre Dame Stadium. In addition, there will be four other five-by-eight-foot representations of the logo within the Stadium.
• Hanging from the ceiling area above the tunnel leading to the field at the north end of the Stadium are 11 six-by-10-foot banners celebrating Notre Dame’s 11 national championship seasons.
• One addition visible from inside the Stadium is a sign on the facing of the wall just above the tunnel – it reads “Irish” and includes the Monogram Club logo.
• Attached to light polls on Moose Krause Circle surrounding the Stadium and in the Stadium and Joyce North and South parking lots will be 100 two-by-four foot pole banners, all of them featuring various Notre Dame marks and phrases – including combinations of Irish, We Are ND, a shamrock, the leprechaun, University of Notre Dame, Here Come the Irish, Fighting Irish, a gold helmet and the 75th anniversary Stadium logo.
Heisman Trophy winners, All-Americans, national championship coaches and Pro Football Hall of Fame representatives are displayed in the 195 portals throughout the Stadium concourse.
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• In addition, there are plans over the next few years to theme the entry gates at the Stadium – with the intention of creating specific recognition of Notre Dame’s national championships, its All-Americans, its Heisman Trophy winners and its national championship coaches. The first gate to be completed will be Gate B. It will recognize the Irish Heisman winners and will be completed later this fall.
Most of the signage and design work is being handled by Sport Graphics, Inc., in Indianapolis, Ind. Additional work for the gate designs is by the Rockwell Group in New York, N.Y.
“This is a great opportunity for our alumni and fans to celebrate the great heritage that is Notre Dame football,” says Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White.
“We’re particularly thankful to the Monogram Club for its assistance and its interest in helping us achieve our objectives in this area. The displays that are in the works will provide a tremendous representation of the history and tradition involved in football at Notre Dame.”
“The Monogram Club is proud to be involved with such a wonderful project that celebrates our past while also paying tribute to our current players,” said Monogram Club president Julie Doyle, the first female president in club history.
“This enhancement of the stadium experience truly is an extension of the club’s motto: ‘bridging the gap between legend and legacy.’ The Monogram Club has been able to fund many special programs in its history — including the Joyce Center’s Sports Heritage Hall and our scholarship fund for children of monogram winners — that benefit Notre Dame’s past, present and future student-athletes. This stadium project continues the tradition of honoring our athletic heritage and will enhance the game-day atmosphere for half-a-million Notre Dame fans as they visit campus each fall for the Irish football games.”
The Notre Dame Monogram Club is comprised of some 3,500 individuals who have earned the University’s varsity athletic insignia for their athletic or team support endeavors or who have been honorary monogram recipients. The club supports the primary goal of the University: the spiritual, intellectual and physical development of its students and alumni. By providing its members the opportunity to foster and maintain relationships across different sports, generations and geographical locations, the Monogram Club aspires to contribute — through the common bond of sport — to the social and professional enrichment of its members while providing a means for ongoing association with the University. As an integral part of the Notre Dame family, the Monogram Club endeavors to uphold and enrich the great tradition of Notre Dame athletics.
One of the organization’s primary functions continues to be providing aid to children of Monogram Club members to attend Notre Dame, through the Brennan-Boland-Riehle Scholarship Fund. The fund is named in honor of Joe Boland, Rev. Thomas Brennan, C.S.C., and Rev. James Riehle, C.S.C. Monogram Club members donate to the fund and the University handles the principal funds, with interest providing scholarship money. The fund has grown to approximately $3 million, making it one of Notre Dame’s largest endowments. Since the fund’s inception in 1979, there have been 131 recipients whose combined scholarship allocations are nearly $2 million — including 45 sons and daughters of Monogram Club members who attended Notre Dame in 2004-05.