Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football. The stadium opened in 1931 and is best known as the long-time home of the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1932 to 1993, and the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), from 1946 to 1995, in addition to hosting other teams, other sports, and concerts. The stadium was a four-time host of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, one of the host venues of the 1948 and 1954 World Series, and the site of the original Dawg Pound, Red Right 88, and The Drive.
Final baseball season, September 1993
Cleveland Stadium under construction in 1931
View of center field in 1993. Lake Erie is visible just outside the stadium. Visible beyond the outfield wall is a portion of the original (larger) outfield area.
During the last Browns game played in the stadium, December 17, 1995, against the Cincinnati Bengals.
A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multifunctionality over specificity. It is used most commonly in Canada and the United States, where the two most popular outdoor team sports—Canadian football or American football and baseball—require radically different facilities. Football uses a rectangular field, while baseball is played on a diamond with a large outfield. Since Canadian football fields are larger than American ones, the design specifications for Canadian facilities are somewhat less demanding. The particular design to accommodate both is usually an oval, although some later designs use an octorad. While building stadiums in this way means that sports teams and governments can share costs, it also presents some challenges.
RFK Stadium, a multipurpose stadium in Washington, D.C., US
Vikingskipet, Norway is a multi-purpose stadium for ice sports
Ratina Stadium in Tampere, Finland
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida: Now a football-only stadium, its layout when it was a multi-purpose stadium (pictured here) placed the baseball diamond in the corner of the football field.