At the time it was constructed, Dyche Stadium was considered one of the finest college football stadiums in the country. The stadium originally consisted of two semi circular grandstands on either sideline, with the west sideline having a small, curved upper deck whose 2 ends abut in matching concrete towers. The purpose of the curved grandstands was to maximize the number of fans sitting close to the action. End zone seating was later added in the south, and in 1952 McGaw Memorial Hall was built beyond the northend zone. The stadium had a natural grass surface when it opened. It switched to artificial turf in 1973 and was used until 1996. Prior to the 1997 season, the natural grass surface was restored and the playing surface was lowered approximately to improve sight lines from the lowest rows of the stadium. As of 2017, Ryan Field is the only stadium in the Football Bowl Subdivision without permanent lights. The Chicago Bears played their first home game of the 1970 season at Dyche Stadium on September 28 as an experiment; the NFL had required that the Bears move out of Wrigley Field because its seating capacity was under 50,000, which was below the minimum set out by the newly constituted post-merger NFL. Also, the Chicago Cubs were in a September pennant race with the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets in the National League East. If Wrigley Field was needed for postseason baseball games, the temporary grandstand for football along the east sideline would not be available until late October. After Evanston residents petitioned city officials to block the team from moving there permanently, the Bears ended up moving to Chicago's Soldier Field the following year. The stadium hosted the 1932 Women's and 1948 Men'sUS Olympic Trials for track and field. The venue also hosted the NCAA track and field championships in 1943. It also hosted the summer College All-Star Game in 1943 and 1944, which had usually been instead held at Chicago's Soldier Field. Both games were played at night with the use of temporary lights. The college all-stars held their practices for the game at Ryan Field in years such as 1934 and 1935.
Renaming controversy
Northwestern's decision to rename Dyche Stadium to Ryan Field defied the university's own 1926 resolution that forbade such a change. School officials said that a private institution can override previous boards' decisions, and dismissed the earlier resolution as a "show of appreciation." But NU did not explain why a mere gesture of appreciation would expressly state that any football stadium at any location would retain the name Dyche, as indeed the 1926 resolution does. The Dyche family wasn't notified of the change; NU claimed that the only descendant they found was a grandniece, despite other family members living in Chicago and being listed in the phone book. After the family protested, NU said it was willing to install an informational plaque at the stadium, noting its former name.
