Perkins Stadium is the third largest football stadium in Wisconsin

(Editors Note: The Thursday (9/30) evening, UW-Whitewater at UW-Platteville game will have the KOOL 106.5 Warhawk football broadcast with Gary Douglas, Tom Pattison and Arnie Peck simulcast on 100.5 ESPN Madison and 540 ESPN Milwaukee.

This is the third of several blog posts this week that will give Madison and Milwaukee area radio listeners a primer on why UW-Whitewater footall is a regional event, not just a local event

The University of Wisconsin Whitewater’s nationally elite football program plays in what we think is the top small college football stadium in the country.

Whitewater’s Perkins Stadium is the third largest football stadium in the state of Wisconsin. Only Lambeau Field in Green Bay and the University of Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium are larger.

Affectionately known as the Perk, Perkins Stadium has a seating capacity of 11,500. The all-time attendance record of 11,028 was set at the 2008 Family Day Game vs. UW-La Crosse. In 2006 Family Day Game vs. UW-La Crosse drew 9,753 fans to the Perk. 2009’s Family Day Game vs. UW-Platteville ranks as the third largest football crowd in stadium history with 9,157 packing the Perk.

Completed in 1970, the modern stadium replaced Hamilton Field, also located on the UW-W campus, Originally known as Warhawk Stadium, the largest stadium in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was renamed Perkins Stadium in honor of longtime UW-Whitewater head football coach Forrest Perkins.

Perkins, who served as Whitewater’s head football coach from 1956-1984 ,completed his career with a 190-89-and 7 coaching record and is still the second winningest football coach in WIAC history.

Perkins was the driving force behind the funding and construction of the stadium that had an original seating capacity of 13,500. Original plans called for a stadium with a seating capacity of 22,000 that would have included a similar seating area that is currently on the west side of the complex..

In 2002, the Student Athletic Complex was dedicated. The SAC, located on the southeast corner of Perkins Stadium, houses coaches’ offices, locker rooms, meeting rooms, class rooms and a full service academic computer lab.

A major renovation of Perkins Stadium took place prior to the 2007 football season. Installed was state-of-the-art FieldTurf playing surface, wraught iron fencing around the stadium and the largest scoreboard in the state other than at Camp Randall Stadium and Lambeau Field.

The scoreboard located overlooking the north end zone is 40 feet high by 32 feet wide. The Daktronik scoreboard features LED technology including a large ProStar Video Plus display board that is comparable to the video boards at Camp Randall.

Perkins Stadium and ajacent complex is just another reason why UW-Whitewater football is considered one of the jewels of NCAA Division III Athletics.