Horseshoes belong on horses

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(Image: Ohio Stadium south stands, 1996) The idea of permanently enclosing the ‘U’ never really went away, even, for one Ohio state legislator, becoming an ongoing mission. In 1971, and again in 1974, state Sen. Doug Applegate proposed resolutions requesting that the University study the possibility of adding up to 20,000 more seats to the south end of the Stadium. Since the legislature had no power over Ohio State’s athletic department, Applegate explained his actions as an attempt to draw attention to the Stadium’s deterioration: “Let’s put some money into it and fix it and expand it or tear it down and build a new one.” When the Stadium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 22, 1974 – joining Orton and Hayes Halls – a furious Applegate regarded it as a ploy to halt his reconstruction plans, declaring, “horseshoes belong on horses.” The stopgap seating, put up at the beginning and torn down at the end of football season, remained through the 1980s. A $2.8 million project prior to the 1991 football season provided bleachers at the corners of the horseshoe, and 5,700 new seats were added in more solid south stands, from many of which fans had a fine view of the back of the scoreboard.