Edor Nelson Field

ADDRESS: 720 23rd Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55454 (click for Google Maps)
CAPACITY: 1,400 (bleacher seating)
SPORTS: Football, Softball, Soccer (M/W/), Lacrosse (W)

Edor Nelson Field, the outdoor athletic field on the Augsburg University campus, is home to the Auggie football, softball, women's lacrosse and men's and women's soccer teams.

Prior to 1984, Augsburg's football, soccer and softball teams played at various sites throughout the Twin Cities. The football team called Parade Stadium home before the football stadium across downtown Minneapolis from the campus was demolished in the 1980s. The field squeezes into one city block along Butler Place.

Previously a half-size practice field for the football team, the Augsburg field was renovated in 1984, as part of a major college capital campaign. The college raised $650,000 for the initial construction project, though the eventual cost, including land purchases, was over $1 million. It was dedicated during the Auggies' home football game against Hamline on Sept. 22, 1984. The first artificial-turf surface installed on the field came from the Pontiac (Mich.) Silverdome in 1984, and the last AstroTurf-brand surface was used from 1993 to 2004. In the summer of 2004, the college replaced the AstroTurf with Sprinturf, a "next-generation" surface, as part of a $400,000 field project.

In the summer of 2013, Augsburg installed a new FieldTurf Revolution surface for Edor Nelson Field. The new FieldTurf is considered the very best synthetic turf system with unparalleled player safety and turf drainage. A new state-of-the-art Nevco video scoreboard was installed in August of 2014. In 2006, as part of the college's Kennedy Center construction project, new bleachers were installed on the field, raising the seating level and enabling fans to have a better view of game action. A new two-level press box was installed at the field in 2008.

The field was originally named Anderson-Nelson Field, named for former Augsburg basketball coach and athletic director Ernie Anderson '37 and for former Augsburg football and baseball coach Edor Nelson '38. In 2001, the field was renamed Edor Nelson Field, after the college renamed the Si Melby Hall basketball court in Anderson's honor. The new Nevco video scoreboard was dedicated during a ceremony that Nelson attended on his 100th birthday in 2014, nine days before his death.

A native of Dawson, Minn., Edor Nelson earned Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame honors as both a student-athlete and coach. As an athlete, he was a multi-sport star in football, basketball and baseball. After serving his country in World War II -- including six months of imprisonment in a German prison camp -- he returned to the United States, earning his master's degree at the University of Minnesota in 1947. He taught and coached for three years in Lamberton, Minn., and returned to Augsburg in 1946. He coached football from 1947 to 1969 and coached baseball from 1946 to 1979, also coaching hockey and wrestling at Augsburg for a short time in the 1950s.

In 2018, Augsburg dedicated its press box as the Pastor Dave Wold Press Box, in honor of the late Rev. Dave Wold, Augsburg's campus pastor from 1983 to 2013. Wold served as public address announcer for Augsburg's football, men’s basketball and wrestling home events, along with periodic events in many other sports. He also helped with the faith journeys of countless numbers of Augsburg student-athletes, not only during their years on the Minneapolis campus, but in their post-Augsburg days as alumni.

Edor Nelson Field is unique among Minnesota colleges and universities for its versatility, as a home for five Augsburg sports teams. To maximize its versatility, the college installed an air-inflated dome, purchased from the Yeadon Corporation, to cover the field during the winter months. A new dome from Yeadon was installed in the winter of 2006. For more information on the dome, click here.