As Offered
134th General Assembly
Regular Session H. R. No. 366
2021-2022
Representative Boggs
A RESOLUTION
Honoring Ohio Stadium
on its One Hundredth Anniversary.
WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the 134th 1
General Assembly of Ohio are pleased to pay tribute to Ohio Stadium as 2
a symbol for Columbus and The Ohio State University for the past 3
century, commemorated October 7, 2022; and 4
WHEREAS, At the time of its construction, Ohio Stadium was an 5
architectural marvel regarded as the greatest single enterprise 6
undertaken by The Ohio State University, and it was the largest poured 7
concrete structure in the world. Its construction campaign was 8
announced at OSU’s Fiftieth Anniversary in 1920, followed by Stadium 9
Week, which showcased athletic parades, military spectacles, and a 10
call for donations that united fans throughout Central Ohio and 11
beyond. The visionaries and earliest supporters of the project were 12
faculty members and university administrators alike, including Thomas 13
E. French, Lynn W. St. John, and William Oxley Thompson, and the 14
stadium was the first major building designed by architect Howard 15
Dwight Smith, with labor and material coming from the Columbus-based 16
E. H. Latham Company and Marble Cliff Quarry Company. Known by many as 17
the “House that Harley Built,” a nod to Charles “Chic” Harley, a 18
football player credited for bringing the university’s football 19
program to national attention, Ohio Stadium has brought fame and 20
prominence to the state for the past one hundred years; and 21
WHEREAS, The first game at the newly completed Ohio Stadium was 22
on October 7, 1922, and crowds only filled 25,000 of the facility’s 23
66,210 seats, yet at the formal dedication of the stadium on October 24
21, 1922, the stadium was filled to capacity for the game against the 25
University of Michigan. By the end of World War II, football tickets 26
H. R. No. 366 Page 2
As Offered
were consistently selling out, and the earliest advertisements 27
claiming that Ohio Stadium would draw the rest of the world to 28
Columbus started becoming a reality. The stadium has since been the 29
venue for popular sporting events, musical performances, and public 30
addresses and gatherings. In addition, it was also the site of the 31
Stadium Scholarship Dormitory from 1933 until 1999, where students 32
with outstanding academic ability and limited financial resources were 33
housed; and 34
WHEREAS, Ohio Stadium is currently the third largest facility of 35
its kind in the country and endearingly referred to as the ‘Shoe, and 36
as an important landmark in Columbus and an example of classical 37
architecture, it was included in the National Register of Historic 38
Places in 1974. Indeed, the stadium has earned the admiration of the 39
more than fifty million fans who have passed through its arches for 40
Buckeye games, and we honor its longstanding tradition of excellence 41
and continued presence as the home of the eight-time national 42
championship and forty-one-time conference title holder, The Ohio 43
State University football team; therefore be it 44
RESOLVED, That we, the members of the House of Representatives of 45
the 134th General Assembly of Ohio, in adopting this Resolution, 46
applaud Ohio Stadium on its One Hundredth Anniversary and salute it as 47
a fine state landmark with a prosperous future; and be it further 48
RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives transmit 49
a duly authenticated copy of this Resolution to Ohio Stadium. 50