QU Stadium is a stadium in Quincy, Illinois originally known as Q Stadium. It is primarily used for baseball, but also has a separate football field. It was the home of the Quincy Cubs, a minor league baseball team competing in the Midwest League during the 1960s through 1973, when the team moved to Dubuque, Iowa. The Quincy Rivermen, a summer amateaur baseball league for college baseball players, competed on the baseball side of the stadium until the late 1980s. A summer league team called the "Quincy Gems" is the current team that inhabits the stadium.
The stadium was built in 1938 as part of the WPA. It is constructed of large limestone blocks and concrete. A "sister" facility of limestone and concrete was built near Quincy High School (which was then located at 13th & Maine). This sister facility was the practice field for Quincy High School athletic teams until a new high school was built at 30th & Maine. At that time, the building at 13th & Maine became Quincy Junior High School and the athletic fields continued to be used by QJHS athletic teams.
The baseball side of QU Stadium holds approximately 3,000 people, although the stadium reportedly had over 3,500 in attendance at a college summer league baseball game (CICL) including the Quincy Gems (team established in the late 1990s and operated by the Quincy Civic Center Authority). The football side of the stadium (located beyond the right and right center field fence of the baseball field) only has bleachers on one side of the field, which holds approximately 2,000.
The stadium was originally owned by the city of Quincy, and used by Quincy High School and Quincy Notre Dame High School as the home football field until a new stadium was completed in 1980 (Flynn Stadium). Both schools, as well as Quincy College, used the baseball side of the stadium.
After both high schools quit using the stadium for football, the Quincy YMCA Tackle Football League began using the football side for the 7th & 8th grade league. The YMCA also used the field for two youth flag football leagues - a 2nd through 4th grade league, and a 5th & 6th grade league. The Quincy Family YMCA completed a field on its property, so the tackle football and flag football leagues moved to that field in 1984.
The city sold the stadium to Quincy College, a local liberal-arts 4-year Roman Catholic college affiliated with the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans). QC had been using the baseball side of the stadium for a number of years. The name of the stadium was changed to QC stadium and then to QU stadium, after Quincy College changed its name to Quincy University.
In 1987, Quincy College re-instated its football program after an over 30 year hiatus. The Hawks began using the football side of QC Stadium competing in NCAA Division III. The Hawks moved up to NCAA Division II during the 1990s, but then moved the team to NAIA.
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Coordinates: 39°56′51″N 91°23′11″W / 39.947517°N 91.386253°W / 39.947517; -91.386253
Famous quotes containing the word stadium:
“It’s no accident that of all the monuments left of the Greco- Roman culture the biggest is the ballpark, the Colosseum, the Yankee Stadium of ancient times.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)