Football is definitely history at the University of the Pacific.

UOP is starting work this week to remove the Amos Alonzo Stagg Memorial Stadium. The project will make room for new athletics facilities, including a dedicated tennis center, and new fields for soccer and field hockey.

Pacific last year returned to the prestigious West Coast Conference. The improvements are designed with higher level competition in mind.

The field hockey field will be the first to be constructed complete with an artificial turf field.

The soccer field will accommodate both the women’s and men’s teams, with the men’s soccer team beginning NCAA Division 1 play later this year after being dormant at the varsity level since 1985. 

The Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center will include 12 courts, a clubhouse, covered player benches and a new electronic scoreboard. The complex is being made possible in part by a $1.5 million gift from Eve Zimmerman, a former Pacific tennis player who became a world-ranked professional player.

The stadium was built in 1950 on land donated by legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg. Football was played there until the program was suspended in 1995. The stadium has hosted concerts, high school graduations and football games, drum and bugle corps competitions.