Continuing The Legacy
In order to enhance the experience of our student-athletes, coaches and fans, we have launched an initiative to renovate the Rock Bowl. When complete, this $1 million initiative will renovate the field turf with a state of the art playing surface, update the surface of the track and install a new and improved scoreboard – all which will help continue to build and shape all six athletic programs now and into the future.
The opportunity to double your impact could not have come at a more perfect time: Paul and Mary Finnegan have generously agreed to match all future gifts $1:$1 up to $250,000 to renovate the Rock Bowl.
Your support is pivotal to the success of this initiative and continuing our nationally recognized programs. We invite you to consider being part of the legacy that is Loras Athletics.
Click on each rendering below for a larger preview.
Loras College Rock Bowl History
1939 – Due to the increasing popularity of football, ground is broke for a new stadium in a naturally formed ravine and site of an old horse barn behind what is now Hennessy Hall.
1940 – Loras College plays host to Upper Iowa in the first football game in the new stadium – a 27-6 victory for the home team. The Rock Bowl name first appears as the annual game against St. Ambrose is dubbed the “Rock Bowl Classic.” The moniker would stick with stadium.
1947 – The largest crowd to ever fill the Rock Bowl – and estimated 10,000 onlookers – played witness to a game between Loras and St. Ambrose. The crowd was so large that temporary bleachers were set up across the field from the main bleachers and hundreds more watched from above the rim of the Rock Bowl.
1988 – The old cinder track that surrounds the field is removed and a polyurethane surface is installed and named the Manatt Track after a generous donor.
2005 – The Rock Bowl receives a major facelift with a new Field Turf field, a new purple track, new press box, stadium lighting, and stadium seating for 3,000 fans. It also features a new paved concession area, retail space, and hospitality suite. The football team christened the new field on September 24 in a 21-0 loss to Central College. Men’s and Women’s Soccer would also take the field for competition with the Rock Bowl serving as their new home field.
2006 – The field is renamed Bierie Field in honor for Bob Bierie, who served as the football team’s head coach for 25 years.
2013 – The Loras Women’s Lacrosse team competes on the Rock Bowl field for the first time.
Be part of something special in helping continue the tradition and the success of all of our programs that are held in the Rock Bowl. You will be helping change the lives of not only our student-athletes, but for every person who steps foot inside the stadium.