Its concrete walls feel like a bomb shelter, which probably makes sense due to the wars often raging within. In night's darkness almost 10 days ago, I stood silently by as teenage boys looked at its field and wept openly and longingly.
War Memorial Stadium is a monument to the memory of those who served in the world wars and a sacred testament to those who serve now. When first constructed in 1948, the stadium held over 30,000 people in its grandstands. The north and south end zones stood open, creating an amphitheater-like atmosphere surrounding the grass field.
The Arkansas Razorbacks officially opened the stadium with a game there. Little Rock enjoyed an NFL match in 1949 when the Philadelphia Eagles played the Los Angeles Rams.
Of course, multiple renovations over the last 70 years made the stadium into the gray lady that anchors a corner of midtown Little Rock we recognize today. Razorback football games with their legendary golf-course tailgating were staple events.
Concerts such as the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, and Guns N' Roses sent drum and guitar beats amplified into the neighborhoods. Billy Graham held a crusade, and Bob Hope made a tour stop there as well.
Between those headline-grabbing events lie high school football games. Saline County's Salt Bowl draws thousands. Yes, Catholic High has used the stadium as a home field since right after its opening due to the school's landlocked campus. Now, Parkview High alternates with Catholic High for its Friday night home field.
The staff and the War Memorial Commission as a whole do an excellent job. They go out of their way to make sure the stadium represents the state and the city positively.
It's within those high school games that War Memorial fulfills its purpose as a state gem/neighborhood field all at once. The stands, now holding almost 55,000, are nowhere near full, but the atmosphere pulses with the thrill of competition. The players occupy collegiate-level locker rooms, the dual video scoreboards cast gigantic replays into the crowds, and there's not a bad seat anywhere. The high school players and cheerleaders get the big-game feel. I'm proud that two Little Rock high schools competed for state championships there last Saturday.
The future of War Memorial needs fruition. It's time Little Rock decides what to do with the land surrounding the stadium because the stage is set, the show is already there, the local high school games proof that it's a city-wide attraction and beyond.
The boys staring back at the playing field that night were high school seniors who had played their last game. They looked longingly at the empty turf, probably imagining plays and the roar of the crowd, knowing that brief moment of boyhood is over for them.
Is it war? Yes, it's the war that goes on within, the war that forces oneself to prepare, to outdo, to compete. War Memorial stands as a monument to those who served, and to those who continue to fight.
Steve Straessle is the principal of Little Rock Catholic High School for Boys. You can reach him at [email protected]. Find him on Twitter @steve_straessle. "Oh, Little Rock" appears every other Monday.