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If the Kenan Stadium walls could talk.
When the Chelsea FC-Wrexham soccer match played a year ago at UNC’s football stadium, we were amazed at how snugly the six-figure turf fit onto the floor of the Old Lady in the Pines. And it will be just as lush for tonight’s higher-stakes friendly between Manchester City and Celtic.
It opened on November 12, 1927, against Davidson with a 27-0 victory and was dedicated two weeks later with a 14-13 win over Virginia. That foreshadowed when UNC unveiled the Smith Center almost 60 years later after it wasn’t ready for its opening game against UCLA, which was played in Carmichael before the Dean Dome debuted and was dedicated to its Hall of Fame coach with a thrilling win over Duke in January 1986.
But while Kenan has undergone five expansions over the years, it was actually down-sized from 60,000-plus to 50,500 capacity when seats taking up more room replaced the aluminum benches. Unwittingly, it created a supply-and-demand that makes tickets harder to get today.
But it wasn’t only college football and professional soccer. Kenan has hosted UNC lacrosse games and Tar Heel soccer matches. It staged a celebration of the 1982 NCAA basketball championship team and was scheduled for the same in 1993 before rain moved it into the Dome where the Tar Heels had played their seventh season.
Two U.S. Presidents gave commemorative speeches at Kenan, John F. Kennedy in 1961 to receive an honorary degree with more than 10,000 in attendance; and Bill Clinton in 1993 before 50,000 to help UNC celebrate its bicentennial and urge passing of the Brady Bill on gun control and health care reform, two problems we have yet to solve in this country.
Besides annual graduation ceremonies, Fourth of July fireworks went off after a concert there for years, hosted by retired WCHL morning man Ron Stutts and occasionally with local bandleader Kenny Mann and Liquid Pleasure performing.
The beloved spring weekend called Jubilee featured its main entertainment at Kenan, with my personal favorite 22-year-old local legend James Taylor singing and strumming from a stool in the middle of the field, surrounded by mesmerized students. In other live concerts, Jimmy Buffett came in 1979, the Beach Boys in 1980, Joan Jett in 1982, U2 in ’83 and for the last outdoor show Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen sold out the joint in 2003 with his album The Rising to honor those who perished in the 9/11 attacks.
UNC supported the coming of the NFL Panthers to the state by hosting an exhibition between the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins in 1990, won by the Falcons in a great game, 31-27.
So enjoy the atmosphere tonight in our beautiful treasure in the trees.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
God, I loved Spring Jubilee. I clearly remember lying on my back in the middle of the field and my friends pouring Purple Jesus in my mouth, until I did not remeber anything