With
the coming of the new decade, centennial celebrations emerge from the pages of
history. Nationally recognized
centennial celebrations include prohibition and women’s suffrage. Local centennial celebrations include the construction
of Elkhi Stadium, also known as Handke Stadium.
Important not only for its age, it also serves as a monument to the
center of recreation and outdoor sports in the community.
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| Handke Stadium circa 1951 |
Before
1920 it was a mud pit, located next to the public school. Later, with the stadium construction, the pit
serves, to this day, as a landmark to the evolution of the idea of community in
Elk River. Through three phases of construction,
from 1921 to 1940, Handke Stadium highlights local initiative and self-reliance
that county residents regard as vitally important.
The
stadium is often associated with the Elk River schools. Built in 1898, education officials located the
Elk River School district’s first high school just north of a small pond, a pit
filled with seeping water from high water table of the Elk and Mississippi
rivers. The wooden structure remained in
place until 1952, while the brick school that became known as Handke School,
was built in 1930.
Until
1921, the pond adjacent to the schools remained undeveloped. Surrounded by wooded area, the water served
as a place for ice skating and sliding in the wintertime. An apocryphal story tells of a young boy
breaking through the ice during a winter skate.
Whether in danger or not, the event prompted discussions on making the
area safe for children. Engineers were
summoned. They determined that filling
the pond with a few feet of dirt and landfill would stop the water seepage and
allow for a good playing field.
Plans
took hold and an estimated 100 to 200 volunteers, students as well as townspeople
and local farmers worked on weekends to haul in dirt to fill this natural amphitheater. For several years, the work continued to fill
the pit. In May 1925, Superintendent Clark
declared the project complete. He
commissioned a sign to hand on the highway, “Elkhi School Playground, Minnesota’s
Finest Athletic High School Field.”
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| Construction of Handke Stadium 1940 |
In
1929, the school set out to expand the playing surface. Again, using volunteer work, the stadium
received an additional 2,000 yards of soil and the field enlarged to create a
regulation football field with a surrounding track. In quick order the volunteers completed the
work in two days.
In
1939, ten years later, phase three of the stadium construction began. With support from a WPA depression era work
program, and the help of the National Youth Agency, workers built retaining
walls, stone steps, and a warming house.
The dedication of this final phase of construction drew a large crowd for
this project begun as a volunteer endeavor.
Unfortunately,
the stadium never lived up to the claim as Minnesota’s finest natural
amphitheater. It continued to collect
water. Stories abound of football games
played in inches of mud. According to
these tales, the 1947 football team played games where the football floated.
Overtime,
the use of Handke Stadium came full circle.
By 1950 the school built a new football field on a more suitable, drier
site. Baseball continued for a few more
years, before the teams moved. To this
day, Handke Stadium remains a popular location for ice skating, hockey, and
sliding. A pit that served as skating
pond, later filled in with dirt and served as a football field, returned to its
natural state as a skating pond.
Throughout the 100 years as Handke Stadium, the landmark serves as a
reminder of the capabilities of volunteerism and community involvement.
