The Folsom Field stadium on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, was built for the 1924 football season and is the home field for the Buffs ever since. In the 2018 season, it will be the 95th season the Buffs will play their home games on the “hilltop.” The stadium was dedicated on October 11, 1924, as Colorado defeated Regis College, 39-0. It was the second home game of the season, as CU closed out playing at Gamble Field the week before with a 31-0 win over Western State.
Following Folsom’s death in 1944, it was renamed Folsom Field after what was originally known as Colorado Stadium. Moreover, 24th Street was changed to Folsom Street in honor of a coach who coached Colorado teams three different times spanning over 15 years between 1895 and 1915. In all the time that he has been at CU, he has the best winning percentage, at 76.5. For more than two decades, Colorado University played its games at Gamble Field, where temporary bleachers provided seating. President George Norlin studied the feasibility of creating a new stadium in the winter of 1923-24 after the opening of CU’s new gym, Carlson Gym, highlighted the inadequacy of Gamble Field’s 9,000 seats.
As support for the team continued to build, Folsom Field was expanded. The first expansions occurred in 1956 when the upper deck was added around the majority of the stadium increasing the capacity to 45,000. By the 1967 season, the track was removed from around the field and 6,000 seats were added, along with the construction of new locker rooms on the north side of the stadium. One year later a massive six-story press box was constructed. Three years later artificial turf was installed at Folsom Field replacing the natural grass. The Dal Ward Center and new bleachers on the north side of the stadium were constructed in 1991. Luxury suites and club seats were added to the stadium in 1995 and 2003. Before the start of the 2012 season, two new digital video boards were added to the north and south ends of the stadium.
Completion of a $42 million east side renovation added 1,903 club seats and 41 seats, increasing Folsom’s capacity to an all-time high of 53,750. The latest addition to Folsom Field was finished in 2016. The Champions Center is just one part of the 156 million dollars Sustainable Excellence Initiative that included renovations to Dal Ward, and the construction of the Champions Center and Indoor Practice Facility. This project added a Touchdown Club room and Touchdown Club Seats and Loge Boxes to replace the north bleachers in Dal Ward, as well as the Champions Club in the northeast corner of the end zone. There is an additional Rooftop Terrace where fans can go before and during the game with scenic views of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and when clear, the Continental Divide.
Fans attending games at Folsom Field see one of the most famous pregame traditions in college football. Ralphie, the team’s 500-pound buffalo mascot, with the care of five handlers, leads the team onto the field before each game. And every Memorial Day, the field serves as the finish of the BOLDERBoulder, one of the largest and most highly acclaimed road races in the world. And on the Fourth of July, thousands of people fill the stadium for Ralphie’s Independence Day Blast, featuring the best fireworks in Boulder County.
