The HIGHWAY that connects Pullman (Washington) and Moscow (Idaho) is approximately nine miles long. The Palouse is well-known for its nine-mile stretch that cuts through the rolling hills of the region's wheat fields.
Except for the small turnoff to the Moscow-Pullman regional airport, there aren’t many landmarks between Washington State University and University of Idaho. Although it's mostly farmland and visible from the west, a large, white structure is evident.
It is visible about half a mile before the Idaho state border. It dwarfs everything surrounding it on the University of Idaho campus. It's assumed that it's an aircraft hangar by most first-timers. It has a huge beer can at its side, which students joke about.
Although it is officially called the ASUI - Kibbie Activity Center it has been mostly known as The Kibbie Dome since it was opened 50 years ago this week to be the home of Idaho football.
It is also known for being the strangest college football stadium in America and one of most unusual sports venues worldwide.
Alec Holser (founder partner at Opsis Architecture, Portland, Oregon), who was responsible for the renovation of the Kibbie Dome in 2011 said, "Here's an irony: The Kibbie Dome doesn't really exist." There are geodesic domes made from wood that look like this, but it is actually a vault.
It's an arch-shaped continuous roof, similar to a blimp shed. The blimp hangars, which were built during World War II, are one of few structures that have a similar size.
It's the 50th anniversary of the Kibbie Dome. Now it's time for us to celebrate all the oddities that make the Kibbie Dome unique.
The Kibbie Dome stands out among mostly farmland. Photo courtesy of University of Idaho Department of Athletics
FIRST, let's establish that the "dome", or stadium, is not 50 years old. Although the building was opened as an open-air facility in October 1971, the huge wooden roof that rests on top of a concrete stadium bowl was completed only in 1975. This was the culmination of an ambitious project to rebuild the Neale Stadium. It was destroyed by an arsonist in 1968.
It is entirely made of wood and is considered a badge of honour in this part of the country. It was one of the most proudest programs at the University of Idaho, which was founded in 1909 as one of the first forestry departments of the United States.
Holser stated, "It is a crazy construction." They literally won a contract to build a dome above the existing stadium. It's just crazy.
Holser stated that the feat was remarkable engineering. It was built using the company's wood-truss system with steel joint. This is especially impressive when you consider that all calculations were done manually in the pre-computer age. The roof measures 400 feet in length and covers 4.5 acres. Its center is 144ft above the ground level, which is equivalent to a 12-story building.
Holser stated that "more recently, some soccer venues around the globe have been built using wood." It's the only wood-based football stadium that I know of. It is rare to find a wood structure that covers that distance anywhere in the world, especially in the U.S.
The Vandals were able to benefit from the unintended consequences of the design.
Holser stated that the curve-shape helps focus some sound down to the floor. It can be very bad on the field or it can be... good depending on how you look at it.
It is loved by even visiting coaches.
Sonny Dykes, SMU coach, said that he played there in 2011, when he was at Louisiana Tech. I love this place. It was home to between 6,000-8,000 people and the sound effects were as loud as 60,000-80,000. It was almost deafening. It was deafening. I have coached in many large places.
Dykes laughed and recalled that both offenses had played poorly on Oct. 8. Both punters appeared to be in their prime, having thrown 21 times for 1,030 yards. This is a 49-yard average.
He said, "These guys were just launching the it." It was amazing that the dome could hold it, as it seemed impossible. It was almost like watching men try to field flyballs at the Astrodome's opening.
It is not easy to kick field goals. Because of space limitations, goalposts must be attached to both ends. Officials mistakenly called an Eastern field goal a failure in a spring Idaho-Eastern Washington match.
Eastern Washington's kicker scores a 22-yard field goal. It's not good, according to the refs.
...?pic.twitter.com/cW6683mHwi Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) February 28, 2021
Idaho won 28-21. The Big Sky issued a statement after Idaho's victory. It stated, among other things, that the physical arrangement of the scoreboard, catwalk and uprights in the Kibbie Dome end zone create unique circumstances for determining whether a kick was good.
Doug Nussmeier was a former Idaho quarterback who was awarded the Walter Payton Award for the best Division I-AA football player in 1993. He has fond memories of playing under the dome. Although he enjoyed the electric atmosphere, there were also some drawbacks.
Nussmeier, the Dallas Cowboys' quarterbacks coach, said that he recollects how he hated it when the rodeo came to town in winter. "We were doing winter conditioning. They would bring in dirt trucks to make the rodeo arena. We'd then be there in the mornings doing winter conditioning. You'd inhale all the diesel fumes in the air because they're dumping dirt everywhere. It was miserable.
The turf was next. The asphalt bed was four inches thick and was installed under the artificial Tartan Turf in 1972. It made the surface as soft as the parking lot. The old carpet lasted 18 years before it was replaced by AstroTurf. However, the new carpet did not provide any improvement.
Nussmeier stated that he has many scars from turf burns. "I believe we had the most difficult turf in the country. You'd get burned nonstop."
Holser stated that the playing surface was one of the first American removable turf fields. FieldTurf was first installed in 2007.
He said that there is a device that scoops up giant rolls of artificial turf measuring 15 feet wide and then rolls them into rolls and stores them.
Sonny Dykes, SMU coach, said that 6,000 fans made it sound like 60,000 people in the building. Photo courtesy of University of Idaho Department of Athletics
Wood construction was not without its flaws. The lack of natural light meant that electricity bills were high for lighting. Holser also discovered another problem when he visited the building to discuss the renovation.
He said that the walls' end walls started to deteriorate over the years. They were covered with one layer of plywood. Woodpeckers made holes in the plywood so that if you stood there, you could see these light beams. It didn't have insulation and the heating system had failed 25 years earlier. As a result, it became colder inside. The bird holes added to the wind blowing through the space.
Holser learned the most shocking thing about the project from meetings. Idaho officials thought it might be time to tear down the dome and rebuild the old bowl stadium. They believed it would be too costly to fix and others thought that football is best played outdoors.
However, the cost of tearing it down was not significantly different from what it would cost to fix it up and ensure it complied with updated seismic and building regulations.
Holser replaced the wooden walls with glazed fiberglass panels. This allowed light to enter the dome, and saved the school $100,000 in electricity bills the first year. He was able to keep the indoor facility open for other uses than football.
The dome is also used by the athletic department for indoor track and field, soccer, and tennis. The venue also hosts concerts, intramurals, graduations, and even the Palouse Pinewood Derby. It is also home to the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival which won the National Medal of Arts 2007.
Idaho will soon open the Idaho Central Credit Union Arena, a $51 million basketball arena. However, since 2001 the Kibbie Dome was converted to the Cowan Spectrum. To create a more intimate environment, the arena-in-a domee concept was inspired by the Carrier Dome at Syracuse as well as the Alamodome where the San Antonio Spurs played. It used 27,000 square feet fabric curtains.
Holser, the designer of the new arena with 4,000 seats, stated that he was inspired by the Kibbie Dome. This structure has been described as the "most unique facility in the nation" by Matt Martin, Idaho senior associate athletic director. This is a groundbreaking project in the emerging field of mass timber, a construction product that uses layers of compressed wood.
He said, "The significance of it for us was continuing the ingenuity [behind Dome's engineering] as well as a kind of no-holds barrered determination to construct something like that." "That's why i worked on the arena to push out the limits of mass timber construction and construction for basketball arenas.
ALEX BOATMAN was 13 days old when he went to his first dome game. He only missed a few contests before joining the team in 2014 as a long-snapper walk-on. It is a place few people have ever lived like him.
He was a youth football player, played at community events, and even worked part-time there as a desk attendant, making rounds into the early hours of the morning. He was one of few to have seen the roof from the inside -- there are gaps between its exterior shell and the massive trusses supporting it -- and he looked down through the slats at the field.
Boatman, now a West Virginia athletics development specialist, said that "The Dome" is his home.
"The Dome is a symbol of our university and all that we are. It shows Idaho as a state that is just trying to survive. It's like "Hey, we're going to play like five sports here and get by as little facility-wise."
The Kibbie Dome is more than just a football venue. It hosts graduations, concerts, and many other events. University of Idaho Department of Athletics
Holser also agrees that the product is a perfect representation of its surroundings.
"I have worked in Idaho for many years, in places like Moscow. You seem a little out there so there is a sense of "Yeah, that's possible." "Why not?" Holser stated.
The Kibbie Dome, if there is such a thing, is it a stadium that has a cult following.
Many of the most passionate fans have never been inside. Eight years after EA Sports ended its NCAA Football video game series, there are still gamers who can take control of the Vandals in dynasty mode and bring national championships into the dome.
Two weeks ago, a Reddit user created a thread called "The Kibbie Dome Challenge": Make this the #1 most difficult place to play. You will find many responses, including those who have shared their virtual dynasty stories.
The local Walmart sold Kibbie Dome shirts at one time. The 16,000-seat stadium, which was used as an FBS football team in Idaho from 1997 to 2017, was the largest by capacity in top-division football. In 2019, the average FBS attendance was 41,129. It is still a formidable opponent to Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium. Tuscaloosa's costumed elephant mascot Big Al is the Crimson Tide of Alabama. The Kibbie Dome is the original.
Holser stated, "I've been to a circus there." Holser said, "I've seen elephants in that area." There are motorhomes. It doesn't matter what you call it, anything could happen."
