A year shy of 90, Taft Stadium still stands as monument to Oklahoma City's sports history

The roar of the stock cars went silent years ago. State championship games found venues elsewhere. The home pro soccer team postponed its season for a second time.

But, a year shy of 90, Taft Stadium still stands as a monument of Oklahoma City’s athletic history and for the Friday night lights to come.

“I think its special from that standpoint,” said Craig Humphreys, morning host of the Sports Animal radio broadcast. “It was here before I came, and it’s probably going to be here long after I’m gone.”

Humphreys played football for Northwest Classen High School on Taft Stadium’s gridiron before his graduation in 1970.

Where tradition grows: The Taft Stadium field

Northwest Classen, across the street from the stadium, was one of the largest high schools in the state at the time, he said, and the Knights’ home crowds at Taft were impressive. Back then, the stadium could hold more than 18,000 spectators, more than twice its 7,500-seat capacity today.

Constructed as a New Deal project at NW 23 and North May Avenue, the stadium opened in time for football season in 1934, according to research from local historian Barbara Stueve. It was the designated home field for Oklahoma City Public Schools’ northside high school teams.

Sitting behind Taft Middle School, the facility still serves as the gameday stadium for multiple Oklahoma City district schools' football, soccer and track programs.

The district’s 2022 bond will fund significant alterations to the middle school building, but the stadium is expected to be untouched. It already received heavy renovations in 2013, when much of the interior was rebuilt, though the original sandstone facade remained intact.

New high schools? A fresh stadium? OKC schools unveil projects for 2022 bond

Taft Stadium was home to 'significant' OKC sporting history

Taft became a focal point of Oklahoma City athletic events in the early and mid-20th century with its considerable size and versatility.

“There’s a lot of history attached to it, and it’s not all just football,” Humphreys said.

A quarter-mile dirt track inside the stadium hosted a 1956 NASCAR Convertible Series contest and other automotive events in the ensuing decades.

Growing up in an adjacent neighborhood, Tom Cheatham remembers the roar of the stock car races and the crash of the demolition derbies at Taft. Although the noise wasn’t popular among the neighbors, the races were “great to watch, especially as a little kid,” said Cheatham, a 1973 Northwest Classen graduate.

He said the stadium is a “significant” part of the community’s history.

“It’s something that should always be there. I don’t care what they have to do to it,” Cheatham said. “It’s a remembrance of when things were simpler and what a great joy a place like that was for those that lived in Oklahoma City.”

The stadium’s original large capacity made it a go-to venue for major local football games.

It hosted the 1943 and 1944 Bedlam football series, a rarity in a rivalry traditionally played in Stillwater or Norman.

Opinion: Taft Stadium memories are strong and wonderful

Humphreys recalled being part of the packed crowd that witnessed the legendary 1977 state championship game between Putnam City and Putnam City West.

The game featured a quarterback duel between blue-chip college recruits Kelly Phelps and Scott Tinsley. Ultimately, Phelps' Putnam City Pirates prevailed in overtime.

Twenty thousand fans filled Taft's stands when storied coach Eddie Robinson, now in the College Football Hall of Fame, and his Grambling State Tigers took the field against the Langston Lions in 1997, the last season of Robinson’s 56-year career.

Grambling State won the battle between the HBCUs 20-0.

Taft’s days as a neutral site for football playoffs, college matchups and automotive racing have passed. The stock cars found other speedways, and high school football championships lately have taken place in Edmond at the University of Central Oklahoma.

These days, Taft is where high school soccer teams vie for the state finals crown.

#ThrowbackThursday: Taft Stadium stock car racing all the rage in 1951

Energy FC marked new chapter for Taft Stadium

2015 marked a new beginning for Taft. The newly renovated stadium welcomed Oklahoma City Energy FC, of the second-division professional soccer league, USL Championship. The team attracted a dedicated core of supporters and exceeded 4,000 fans in average match attendance.

Fans and players were shocked when Energy FC suspended the past two consecutive seasons. The club said it canceled 2022 play because turf and track upgrades at Taft would conflict with the team’s home games.

The 2023 season was suspended, as well, because Taft did not meet USL Championship requirements for field dimensions, capacity or team amenities.

Chief Operating Officer Jeff Kretchmar said the club awaits the new multipurpose stadium to be built in Oklahoma City with funding from the MAPS 4 1-cent sales tax. Construction on the project is expected to break ground in mid-2025.

MORE: OKC Energy FC to further extend hiatus due to USL field dimension rules

State Rep. Forrest Bennett spent plenty of hours at Taft as an Energy FC fan and season ticket holder. Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, said it was difficult for the fanbase to gin up pride for a middle school stadium, especially one with more neighborhoods than entertainment options nearby.

While fans look forward to a new stadium in a trendier area, he said they will "always have positive memories from Taft" where the city’s burgeoning love for the beautiful game grew.

"It certainly didn’t feel like a middle school stadium on those hot summer nights when we were going neck-and-neck with a team from halfway across the country," Bennett said. "We’ll always have fondness for those memories because that’s how soccer was born in Oklahoma City."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Taft Stadium is a 'significant' part of Oklahoma City's sports history