They literally travel mountains to create Dodger Stadium . Between 1959 and 1962 , an army of construction workers shifted eight - million cubic chiliad of earth and rock music in the hills above business district Los Angeles , refashioning the rugged terrainonce lie with as the Stone Quarry Hillsinto a innovative baseball palace .
Controversy smother the bowl ’s origin . First , a never - see public housing projecterased an entire Mexican American community from Chavez Ravine . subsequently , the metropolis of Los Angeles enticedWalter O’Malley‘s Dodgers to the site with what council phallus Ed Roybal scream a “ sweetheart deal . ” But once solid ground was broken on September — a project oversee by O’Malley and architect Emil Praeger and execute by Alhambra - base Vinnell Constructors — was a relatively straightforward project of muscle and machinery .
Workers met their greatest challenge in the site ’s topography . Steep slopes and deep ravines had long shelter the Elysian Hills ( also called the Stone Quarry or Rock Quarry hills ) from intensive ontogeny . In 1883,the metropolis set aside the northern half of the land , then considered ugly , as Elysian Park . The other one-half finally became home to thebucolic neighborhoods of Bishop , La Loma , and Palo Verde .
But the raspy terrain was no match for modern industrial technology . In a little less than 31 calendar month , nineteen giant earthmovers relocated eight million three-dimensional yard of earth , flattening hills and filling in gully across the 300 - Accho site . At the highest point , a 726 - foot promontoryvariously called Mount Lookout , Silverwood Hill , and O’Malley Hill , they cut off the peak and carve an coliseum into the mountainside that would attend to as the sports stadium ’s cornerstone . ( The landform named Chavez Ravine remain integral . Stadium Way run through it today . )
Above : The groundbreaking ceremonial occasion for Dodger Stadium on September 19 , 1959 . [ USC Libraries – Los Angeles Examiner Collection ]
Above : Excavation work for Dodger Stadium ring a Chavez Ravine household . The acme above is Mount Lookout , into which was carved the stadium ’s amphitheater . [ Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive – UCLA Library ]
Above : Grading workplace for Dodger Stadium , 1960 . [ Photo Collection – Los Angeles Public Library ]
establish the 124 - foot grandstand was almost as herculean a task as the grading . Some 40,000 three-dimensional yards of concrete , include 78 precast frames , and 13 million pounds of reenforce steel run into the structure . Because the largest precast pieces were too big to move by hand truck , Vinnell built a six - Akko casting yard on the site . To tack the pieces , the contractor import a $ 150,000 Stephen Crane from Germany that was then was the big in North America .
At the project ’s peak , Vinnell employed 342 proletarian on the web site . Total costs ran close to $ 23 million , include $ 4.47 million in city and county subsidies .
Dodger Stadium nearly escape its scheduled possible action date after bounce storm doubly dealt major postponement to construction crews . A month before its contrive opening , the right-hand field pavilion had yet to rise from the earth . But the prole beat up , and on April 10 , 1962 , 52,564 devotee enjoyed the modern conveniences of O’Malley ’s newfangled ballpark .
The grandstand ’s cantilevered design mean that each spectator pump enjoyed an unobstructed opinion of the action — a departure from older sports stadium excogitation that localise backing structures between fans and the field of view . And because it was built into the hillside , the covered stand provide easy access from each of its four tiers to the terraced parking lots behind it , minimize the need for foresightful climbs up stairway .
While the stadium ’s saucy , modernistic designmight have made a command on Opening Day 1962 , the squad did n’t . They fell to the Cincinnati Reds , 6 to 3 . But the following 24-hour interval , Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax stepped onto the stadium ’s clay mound and , standing before the sports stadium - shape amphitheatre that had only late been carved from a mountainside , hurled a four - hit terminated game . The Dodgers won , 6 to 2 .
Above : Early piece of work on the Dodger Stadium covered stand , ascertain here on November 17 , 1960 . [ USC Libraries – Los Angeles Examiner Collection ]
Above : 1961 aerial horizon of Dodger Stadium construction . [ Photo Collection – Los Angeles Public Library ]
Above : A closer 1961 aeriform prospect of the bowl under construction . [ Photo Collection – Los Angeles Public Library ]
Above : Another 1961 aerial view of Dodger Stadium construction . [ Photo Collection – Los Angeles Public Library ]
Above : Dodger Stadium construction on July 25 , 1961 . [ USC Libraries – Los Angeles Examiner Collection ]
Above : 1962 view of a nearly complete Dodger Stadium . [ Herald - Examiner Collection – Los Angeles Public Library ]
Above : Spring tempest delayed the windup of work on Dodger Stadium ’s theater , seen here on February 23 , 1962 . [ Photo Collection – Los Angeles Public Library ]
Above : 1962 view of a complete Dodger Stadium during a ball game . [ Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive – UCLA Library ]
Top image : Dodger Stadium under construction on May 25 , 1960 . Courtesy of theUSC Libraries – Los Angeles Examiner Collection .
Southland is made possible by a partnership between Gizmodo , theUSC Libraries , and the member assemblage ofL.A. as Subject . Written byNathan Masters , the series explores the urban past tense of Los Angeles , include the lose landscape and forget infrastructure that go along to influence the city we know today . This C. W. Post antecedently appeared on KCET.org as “ They Moved pot to Build Dodger Stadium . ”
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