[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18220]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING EXCELSIOR SPRINGS FOOTBALL AND THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF 
                             TIGER STADIUM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SAM GRAVES

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 13, 2004

  Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize the Excelsior 
Springs Football Tigers, a team steeped in history with a promising 
future, thanks in part to the new Tiger Stadium, which is officially 
opening tonight, September 10, 2004.
  Excelsior Springs football was first played about 1910 on ``Old Lady 
Reed's Field'' near Superior Street. In 1920, games were moved to 
Association Park, a location that later became the site of the old high 
school football field that officially became Roosevelt Field in 1938. 
The stone wall surrounding the field was built during the FDR era as a 
WPA project to provide area jobs after the Great Depression. In 1984, 
major renovations brought the field and track up to state regulations 
and new lighting was installed. In the `90s, however, the location 
started to become a problem: the field was plagued by repeated flooding 
from Fishing River, the field was now across town from the high school, 
and parking was more inadequate with each passing year. Early in the 
2000s, the community passed a bond issue to build a Performing Arts 
Center, which opened in fall 2003, a new Career Center building, which 
will open in January 2005, and this Tiger Stadium, officially opening 
tonight September 10, 2004.
  Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in congratulating the 
people of Excelsior Springs on their new Tiger Stadium, and wishing the 
Tigers the best of luck in their new home.

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