Facing demolition, old Cardinal Stadium holds a special place in Louisville history

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It was once the crown jewel of local sports, but at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, old Cardinal Stadium is scheduled to be demolished.

The demolition has been expected for a long time. The stadium fell into disrepair when the University of Louisville football team and Louisville RiverBats moved out in the late 1990s.

The stadium opened in 1956 and has a robust history.

In addition to minor league baseball games and U of L football games, it's also played host to numerous concerts.

NSYNC, Chicago and the Rolling Stones have all played there. Willie Nelson also put on a show there for a Farm Aid concert.

One of the greatest high school football games in Louisville was also played at the stadium in 2002.

"There was a massive football game with 20,000 people going to a high school football game when Male played Trinity," local historian Tom Owen said.

Trinity beat Male, 59-56, to win the state championship.

Team spirit may have soared at that game, but the fireworks flew even higher for the very first Thunder Over Louisville. Producer Wayne Hettinger has been there from the start. In a previous interview, he told WDRB News there was something magical about that first show at old Cardinal Stadium.

"The expressway came to a complete stop," Hettinger said. "The entire parking lot was filled up with people. You could hear this roar come up when the fireworks were gone, but the electricity you were feeling in that room was like, 'Oh, we've got some magic here.'"

The old stadium even had a presidential visit. President George H.W. Bush threw out the first pitch of baseball game that raised money for hurricane victims.

The state began dismantling the bleachers in 2014 and approved funds last year to tear it down.

Owen remembers the day it opened in the 1950s. He was in high school then. Throughout his life, he would see history made at Cardinal Stadium.

"This is a place that is etched into Louisville memory," he said. "To see it go will certainly stir gigantic pools of memory for folks that have been around for very long."