A plan to move the football stadium, 47 years ago

In 1972, UW-La Crosse was thinking of building a new football stadium on the far south side of town, at the Holy Cross seminary.  The Wisconsin Building Commission would have to study the proposal for the college to buy Memorial Field, and then have the new stadium built near Highway 14.  UW-L eventually did put up a new stadium more than 30 years later, at the same location as the old one.  

A new choral group at Viterbo College was getting attention.  It was called the Hallelujah Singers, and most of the chorus members were black.  Leading the singers was the first African-American hired as a full-time instructor at Viterbo, Sister Thea Bowman.  After her years at Viterbo, Sister Thea gained a national reputation as a leader among black Catholics in the U.S.  She was recently nominated for sainthood in the Catholic Church.   

Bill Haley and His Comets, best known for the 50’s hit ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ were still performing in the early 70’s, and played at La Crosse’s Sawyer Auditorium.  The Mayo Auditorium in Rochester hosted a country show starring Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, in 1972, Yesterday in La Crosse.