Sunset at the Stadium

 

The Sun Setting over Bays Mountain as Viewed from J. Fred Johnson Stadium

Photo by Earl Carter

Earl Carter, my longtime colleague at the Kingsport Times-News and one of the finest photographers I know, posted this gorgeous sunset over Bays Mountain, as seen from the homestands at J. Fred Johnson Stadium on Friday.

Earl wondered if perhaps Kingsport’s founders “stood on this spot long ago and made the decision to build the stadium in this exact location so future generations would have a prime view of the setting sun at football games.”

It's a nice thought: J. Fred Johnson and John B. Dennis scouting out future building sites for industry and residences and having that ah-hah moment when they saw how the sun set over the hills.

I wish it had happened that way.

But it was mostly accidental and in fact the building of the stadium was originally opposed by a few Kingsporters, most notably the Kingsport Times.

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 The stadium didn’t begin with J. Fred Johnson or John B. Dennis but with the local American Legion Post which in early 1936 was proposing a city recreation center and public swimming pool on land near Lincoln School.

The headline on Jan. 7, 1936 read:

LEGION POST OKAYS PURCHASE LAND FOR RECREATION CENTER;

Land Will Cost $6,300 for Site; Clubhouse, Pool and Sports Activities Are Included In the Plans

“The Legion voted unanimously at its meeting held in the Municipal building last night to purchase the 10 and one-half acres of land at the junction of the Bristol and Johnson City highways, on which the center will be built. A swimming pool, Legion clubhouse, a softball diamond and carnival grounds will be placed in the "Y." Work is expected to get under way within the next few weeks.”

 

No mention of a football stadium.

 

Sept. 17, 1939

It would be a couple of years before stadium talk started.

An April 11, 1938 headline read:

City Will Take Steps to Get Athletic Stadium, Armory

“Prospects for a new athletic stadium and armory for Kingsport loomed today as authorities announced that steps may be taken to obtain WPA grants for their construction. Construction of a stadium has been discussed by city authorities and civic leaders several times, but on each occasion, it was decided that the city should not assume the entire debt of the project.

“Just where the two projects would be constructed has not been discussed. Heretofore suggestions have been made that the stadium be located on the old flying field at Lovedale and on Dobyns-Bennett’s athletic field. Location of the armory has been suggested on property of the Legion Park.”

 

So in 1938 possible locations for a new stadium ranged from the field down the hill from Jackson School to the grounds next to the “old” D-B on Wateree.

 

Public opinion soon started crystalizing around building a new stadium, especially after Johnson City and Bristol both constructed new facilities.

 

The Mayor and Board of Alderman scheduled a meeting for Feb. 21, 1939 to discuss the matter.

 

That’s when the Kingsport Times weighed in:

 

STADIUM?

"Kingsport is still a young city, with every prospect of continued healthy growth. If we could be given a glimpse into the future, say about 1959, it is quite possible that we would not recognize our city. That in the years to come many other large industries will locate plants here, is quite certain. That the population will increase steadily and that large tracts of land, now vacant, will be occupied by hundreds of homes, is also quite certain. Consequently, if it is desirable to have a large stadium later on, it is only the part of wisdom to set aside a desirable site now while it can still be bought at a comparatively low figure. That is strictly logical and admits of no argument.

"There is an 'if' in the above sentence.

"Is a large new stadium desirable? Certainly, a great many people think it is. "Stadium" means football to most people, as football is the principal use of such a place. Now football has become so popular as to be almost a mania with some people. The emphasis on football in our colleges and high schools is getting greater every year. Over emphasis, some think. But the fact remains that the "fans" want more and more of it and are willing to pay more and more for it. So it has developed, not so much as a sport but as a spectacle and a big business. As a sport, as it affects those who play, football is a little different but no better than it has been in past years. But there is no blinking the fact that gate receipts affect the attitude of a school or college toward football. They bow to the will of the people-and to the click of the turnstiles. All over the country we see it; more football, more stadia.

 "There is not in this country, a heavy-over-emphasis on athletics. There is a heavy over-emphasis on the use of athletics for business purposes. That is not good for anyone concerned. Kingsport should avoid the danger of becoming an example of that.

"For the real good of the city, would it not be better to start planning on city parks that would serve a much greater number of people. Such parks will be a greater necessity in the future when the population is denser, than a stadium, and the land for them will be as difficult to get later on. We will need parks, so located that they will be close to the people who need them most; people without cars.

"The question is, will a stadium be a necessity of the future, or just an expensive luxury? The board would like to know what you think.

 

So the Times wanted parks and playgrounds not a stadium."

 

The will of the people was decidedly not on the side of the Times’ editorial writer. Folks flooded the Municipal Building for the city government meeting that February night in 1939..

 

“Mayor William Holyoke called upon the group for expressions of opinion on the purchase of the property for the proposed stadium.

“A. D. Brockman, executive vice-president of the First National bank and chairman of the city school board expressed himself as heartily in favor of purchasing the property, declaring that the sooner the stadium is built the quicker it will "enable us to tear down the wooden fence at the school."

“’I feel,’ he added, ‘we should get government money while we can.’

“H. G. Stone moved that the board proceed with the purchase of the property. I. M. Fuller seconded the motion and appealed for immediate construction of the stadium.

“This motion also carried without opposition.

“In passing an ordinance authorizing the purchase of the property which is to cost $1,000 per acre, Mayor Holyoke commented that sentiment expressed at the meeting had shown the consensus of opinion of a large majority of citizens of the city was heartily in favor of the stadium and urged the board not to delay in the purchase.”

 

J. Fred Johnson Stadium opened on Sept. 3, 1942 with a War Bond Rally headlined by Hollywood star Greer Garson who was introduced to the crowd by E.W. Palmer, head of Kingsport Press.

She arrived 45 minutes late so she missed seeing that spectacular sunset over Bays Mountain.