Stadiums Of 2007 FSU ACC Foes: Wake Forest Groves Stadium

It is payback time at Wake Forest. As Nole fans remember, the Seminoles were humiliated by Wake at home 30-0.

The home of Wake Forest Football is Groves Stadium. The facility, which celebrated its 35th season in 2002, underwent a $1.5 million refurbishing in recent years which added significantly to both its appearance and utility heading into the 21st century. Of course, the most obvious and striking improvement to the complex is Bridger Field House. The third phase of Wake Forest University Football Project has hit full stride with the demolition of the existing press box and construction of the new Deacon Tower. The estimated completion date of phase three is June 2008.

Dedicated on September 14, 1968, in a 10-6 loss to rival NC State, Groves Stadium represents an extensive fund-raising effort undertaken by the college during the mid-1960s which, for all practical purposes, made possible Wake Forest's continued membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The stadium, which has 31,500 permanent seats and boasts a splendid natural grass playing surface, is located between Reynolds and Deacon Boulevards, one mile from the Wake Forest campus. It also is part of the athletic center of Winston-Salem which includes Lawrence Joel Coliseum, home of the Demon Deacon basketball teams, as well as Ernie Shore Field, where the professional minor league baseball Winston-Salem Warthogs play each summer.

The history of Groves Stadium can be traced back to the original home of the university in the eastern North Carolina village of Wake Forest. When the school announced its planned move to Winston-Salem in 1948, the Groves family, led by Henry (the original stadium's primary benefactor) and his brother Earl, made an additional financial commitment to insure that their family name would remain on whatever new facility that the football program would construct.

FSU and the Deacons tangle at Groves Stadium on Oct. 11.