Franklin Roosevelt opened the first one; Charlotte rebuilt the second from its own stones. American Legion Memorial Stadium at 310 North Kings Drive, in the Elizabeth neighbourhood beside Independence Park, began as a 1936 Works Progress Administration stadium honouring Mecklenburg County's First World War dead - FDR himself spoke at the opening - and spent eight decades hosting Shrine Bowls, high-school and college football, and concerts from Jimmy Buffett to Pearl Jam before age-related structural failure forced a reckoning. The county's answer, built 2019-2021 for 40.5 million dollars, was a complete reconstruction that kept the landmark's soul: the original stone field wall came down, was restored and rebuilt piece by piece, ticket booths were replicated, and the concrete crown walls of the old bowl reappeared atop the new one. Jenkins-Peer and HOK's design deliberately lowered the stadium's scale to fit the neighbourhood, threaded the Little Sugar Creek Greenway through the site with landscaped alcoves and a pedestrian tunnel, and planted a future tree canopy along the concourse. The 10,500-capacity bowl - 9,500 fixed seats, 1,600 mid-field club seats, VIP overlook and field-level rows, expandable to 15,000 for concerts - reopened on 7 July 2021 with Charlotte Independence soccer, and now carries professional soccer, rugby, lacrosse, school football and music against a skyline view of uptown. The name and the mission survive intact: a memorial first, a stadium second, and the rare rebuild that improved both. A public art installation honouring the World War I veterans reads from both inside and outside the bowl, extending the memorial mission to passers-by on Kings Drive, and the adjacent Central Piedmont Community College campus and Elizabeth neighbourhood keep the site woven into daily city life rather than fenced off between events. The stadium's awards shelf - best historical renovation honours among them - recognises how rare that balance is.

Type: Stadium / Arena

Address: 310 North Kings Drive, Charlotte, NC, United States, 28204

Website: https://www.mecknc.gov

Capacity: 10500

Opening Date: 01/01/1936

Outdoor Area

Accessible