Kezar Stadium: San Francisco
Kezar Stadium's allure isn't the physical atmosphere. It's the history (both football and music) plus location in Golden Gate Park that make it a must-see.
Photo courtesy of Darek Truesdale
Kezar Stadium, located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, once was home to the NFL's San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. It was built in one year at a cost of $300,000 and dedicated in 1925.
Over the years it has been used for such diverse sports as track & field, motorcycle and auto racing, rugby, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, boxing and cricket. For several years, Stanford University held its spring football game at Kezar. Other college games have been played there, as well as the East-West Shrine Game.
In 1928, the City Championship prep game between Lowell and Polytechnic drew a crowd of 50,000. However, starting in 1989, it was torn down and rebuilt with a seating capacity of 10,000.
Today it still gets great use from high school football teams. For example, the Turkey Bowl for the city championship has been played there for many years. It also is home to
Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) and
Mission (San Francisco).
Many famous concerts have been held at Kezar, which is about a 10-minute walk from the famous Haight-Ashbury intersection. Bands like Led Zeppelin, The Doobie Brothers, Waylon Jennings, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power and the Grateful Dead have dazzled crowds at the locale, which gets socked in by thick fog often. In 1971, several scenes from the Clint Eastwood movie "Dirty Harry" were filmed there as well.
