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A chain-link fence surrounds the South Stadium building on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus. Inside it workers in hardhats are beginning the dismantling of the last remaining part of Chamberlain Field, the Mocs' home football stadium from 1908 to '97.
Workers from the E. Luke Greene Company, of Knoxville, began removing the South Stadium bleachers last week and will eventually knock down the whole building. Some elements, such as the Chamberlain Field entrance signs, will be preserved for use in the Chamberlain Pavilion.
The pavilion will be near the end zone at the east end of the field, across from the $48 million library that is under construction. That's the end zone famous for the wall that players often ran into and the upward slope in the back of the end zone that caused more than a few players to stumble.
Mocs coach Russ Huesman, a safety at UTC from 1979 to '82, made his first career interception in that end zone.
"It was a great place to play; [the quirks were] our home-field advantage," Huesman said. "The wall in the end zone was unbelievable. You went uphill into the wall.
"I don't know what it was about that field, but it flooded all the time. I remember we blocked a punt against Furman [in 1982] and the water was so deep that the ball just went underwater. It just stopped dead."
Chuck Cantrell, UTC's vice chancellor for university relations and a 1983 graduate, described the end of Chamberlain Field as "bittersweet."
He said the South Stadium building has been empty since it was condemned several years ago, so it's good to finally see it go.
"At the same time," he added, "I have so many memories from going to games and sitting in those seats watching the Mocs play. We went to every game - it was what you did on Saturdays - and we had so many great teams during that time."
UTC has $500,000 set aside for the dismantling and other aspects of the project, but Cantrell said the overall cost will be around $2 million.
Two pallets of bricks from the South Stadium will be saved for future use, and some of the blue and goal chairback seats also will be set aside.