POW/MIA Chair of Honor
Missar-Murphy Statue
Johnson Hagood Stadium is entering its 67th season as the home of The Citadel football program and has undergone extensive renovations over the past decade, making it one of the most modern facilities in FCS football.
The makeover began in 2001 when The Citadel opened the Altman Athletic Center just beyond the South end zone. It features home and visitor locker rooms, accommodations for officials and a spacious entertainment area for members of The Citadel Brigadier Foundation.
The aesthetics of the stadium took another giant leap forward in 2006 with the debut of the new West Side stands, providing roomy chair back seats for all fans. Two years later, the West Side tower opened its doors to rave reviews. The state-of-the-art project included luxury suites, a club level to entertain higher-donating members of the Brigadier Foundation and a new press box.
A new scoreboard featuring video and replay capabilities and enhanced graphics and sponsorship opportunities is situated behind the North end zone. The renovations of the stadium continued a year ago with the remodeling of the East Side stands.
Originally constructed in 1939 and completely renovated in 1989, McAlister Field House is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose facility and home to The Citadel’s basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams.
Originally called The Citadel Armory it was later renamed for Colonel David S. McAlister, class of 1924, on March 16, 1973. Col McAlister served The Citadel for 48 years in a variety of capacities … was an outstanding track and baseball performer … served as faculty representative to the Southern Conference and was the executive secretary-treasurer of the league … McAlister Field House is named in his honor as is the conference’s sportsmanship award. Col McAlister was inducted into The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980.
McAlister Field House also houses the athletic department’s administrative offices, meeting and conference rooms, locker room facilities for basketball and baseball and a third floor which overlooks the playing floor and is used extensively for pregame and postgame receptions.
The 1989 renovation expanded the seating capacity from its original 4,500. In the summer of 2012, the basketball locker rooms underwent an extensive upgrade, including raising the ceilings and removal of walls to provide more space. Other amenities were a plasma television, Smartboard interactive technology for pregame and in-game film review and a new equipment room.
A new scoreboard with video capabilities was unveiled in McAlister Field House for the 2014-15 season to enhance the fan experience and increase sponsorship opportunities during home events.
The facility has hosted several major events, including opening rounds of the Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament, All-Academy Wrestling Championship and was the venue for the Democratic Party’s 2007 edition of the CNN-YouTube presidential debates.
Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park opened its doors during the 1997 season as the home of The Citadel baseball team. The Bulldogs have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success at “The Joe”, winning 65 percent of their games at the stadium.
Riley Park is more than a playing field for the Bulldogs. The Citadel clubhouse, affectionately named “Chal’s House” after legendary head coach Chal Port, provides individual lockers for each player, a coaches’ locker room and office and meeting space and a full amenity bathroom facility.
The park, which The Citadel shares with the Charleston RiverDogs of the South Atlantic League, features one of the best playing surfaces in college baseball, a scoreboard and video board which were introduced during the 2013 season, party areas, luxury suites and a press box with separate radio booths and a large control room to run the video board and other game-day activities.
The Citadel has hosted many of the top programs in college baseball. The Southern Conference Tournament has been held at Riley Park in 15 times in the last 20 seasons.
The Inouye Marksmanship Center opened in 2005 and gives The Citadel rifle teams one of the top shooting facilities in the nation, containing 16 points for smallbore/center fire and air rifles at 50 feet.
In 2008, the marksmanship center received a technological advance in its scoring system. The electronic system leaves no room for personal judgment or error when scoring a shot and provides immediate recognition of the shot to the marksman. The results are also relayed to a computer to compile them for each round and essentially the entire match.
The following year, four 42-inch plasma displays were added to the facility to allow viewers to follow the scores.
The facility has hosted Southeastern Air Rifle Conference championship events as well as the North Carolina and South Carolina Junior Olympic Qualifier in rifle and the South Carolina Junior Olympic Qualifier in pistol. It has also been the site of the National Club Team Rifle Championships.
The Earle Tennis Center serves as the headquarters for The Citadel tennis program. Completed in 1990, the center houses two locker rooms, a coach’s office, an equipment room and a meeting room.
The facility is home to the Don C. Bunch Courts, named after the man who coached the Bulldog tennis team for 30 years. The 10 courts feature Laykold surfacing and a new windscreen that was redone in 2014. Lights were added to several courts to bring in tennis camps and for community use.
The Earle Tennis Center has hosted the Southern Conference Tournament on several occasions most recently in 2012.
Washington Light Infantry (WLI) Field is the home of The Citadel soccer team and holds a rich place in the school’s history. The Bulldog baseball team played on the current location before moving into College Park in 1967 and subsequently Riley Park, and the men’s soccer team also called the field home before the program was discontinued.
The playing field is one of the nicest in the Southern Conference and the bench areas include covered areas for both teams as well as game management staff.
Seignious Hall opened in 1982 and contains offices for Bulldog football coaches, a large team meeting area, individual rooms for each position and a video production room.
The first floor of the building includes a modern athletic training room, an equipment room and locker room facilities for the football team. In addition to the football offices, the second floor houses a spacious weight room that includes the most up-to-date training equipment. The weight room, which host over 250 cadet student-athletes, saw a donor driven renovation in the late winter of 2020.
Click here for more details on the renovation and
here for a photo gallery.
Opened in 1991, Vandiver Hall is a multi-purpose facility which includes offices for The Citadel’s track and field/cross country, soccer and wrestling programs.
Vandiver Hall is complete with locker room facilities for women’s sports, a conference room and storage space. The second floor features two full regulation batting cages, a large wrestling practice area and two golf cages to allow for indoor practice.
