Golddigger stadium had been a landmark in Idaho Springs since 1958, also being recognized nationally on the high school football stage. When Michael Hicks, executive editor for Evergreen Newspapers and the local newspaper, the Clear Creek Courant, learned the stadium would be sold to help curb the school’s financial woes, he knew that the community would mourn the loss and that it was up to the Courant to memorialize the stadium’s sixty-plus years as a cherished landmark, and bid it a fitting farewell.
“When it became apparent that the school district was selling the property [on which Golddigger Stadium stood], our staff started planning how we would cover the final game,” wrote Hicks in his News Impact Project submission.
“Initially, we thought of just running a front-page article in advance of the game and then doubling up coverage of the game itself with a color piece from the fans’ perspective and the gamer itself. Before long, that front-page preview became a four-page pullout.”
The Courant helped members of the community bid farewell to the stadium with a full package about the historic site. In the pull-out section, published on October 30, 2019, the Courant talked to former players, coaches and stadium personnel about their memories of the famed stadium.
Read the Courant’s articles about the stadium’s history, what a former coach thinks of the stadium’s closing, the memories of the longtime announcer and scoreboard operator, and how residents responded to the end of an era.
Jennifer Peters is former content manager of the News Media Alliance.
