Remember This? Demolition of Foxboro Stadium Began 13 Years Ago This Week

Gillette Stadium has become a landmark in Foxborough since opening in 2002  but did you know that demolition of Foxboro Stadium - to make room for Gillette - began this week 13 years ago?

In recognition of that fact, we want to ask you what you remember from the "old stadium" and what you enjoy about the "new" one. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comment section below or upload your photos of the old Foxboro Stadium to our gallery above!

Fun Facts About Gillette Stadium

With the demolition of Foxboro Stadium came the construction of one of the NFL's best venues – Gillette Stadium.

Fan satisfaction is at the forefront of Gillette Stadium’s design, with unobstructed views from the entire length of each of its wide concourses ensuring a great view of the field from practically anywhere inside the turnstiles.

Additional gathering areas, such as the end-zone plazas, offer alternative viewing where fans can gather to socialize before, during and after games. Once at their seats, guests relax in theater-style chairs, each one complete with a drink holder. For the ultimate in creature comforts, the Putnam Club offers more than 6,000 club members access to 120,000 square feet of space to enjoy not just on game days, but year-round.

In addition to the club areas, the stadium's 89 luxury suites in the EMC2 suite level are among the largest in the NFL, ranging from 800 to 2,700 square feet. Each suite features luxurious furnishings as well as private bars and restrooms.

Gillette Stadium celebrates New England’s heritage with a unique display of local flavor. A stylized lighthouse and bridge greet fans entering from the NRG Plaza and create the stadium’s signature view. The coastal heritage of the region is represented in a seascape scene that complements the bridge and lighthouse and flanks the players’ entrance to the field. Guests can experience a unique view of the action from atop the bridge, which connects the east and west concourses at the base of the lighthouse.

In 2012, with assistance from networking partner Enterasys, Gillette Stadium became one of the first NFL venues to offer free WiFi to fans stadium-wide.

Here's a roundup of some fun facts you may not know about the stadium:

QUICK STATS

Construction started                                  2000

Stadium Opened                                        2002

Capacity                                                    68,756

Club Seats                                                 6,000

Luxury Suites                                            89

Suite Seats                                               2,000

Width of concourses                                  up to 70 feet

Concession Locations                                500 (incl. 138 permanent stands)

HD video boards                                        2 (41.5’ x 164’ and 45’ x 100’)

Stadium footprint                                      17.3 acres

Stadium area                                             1.9 million square feet

Television monitors                                   1,000+

Points of distributed sound                        2,000

Distance to downtown Boston                   33 miles

Distance to downtown Providence             21 miles

A Hot Spot

Gillette Stadium’s free, stadium-wide wireless network provided by Enterasys can support 28,000 fans simultaneously streaming video on their smart phones, or 70,000 sending an e-mail.

Wide Screen

It would take 1,700 37” TVs to fill the stadium’s Daktronics HDTV video board in the south end zone, which is the largest HDTV video screen in an outdoor NFL stadium.

Abroad Appeal

Patriots season ticket holders hail from 42 U.S. states, four Canadian provinces and two foreign countries, while the season ticket waiting list has members from all 50 states, nine Canadian provinces, eight foreign countries and three U.S. territories.

Getting to the Top

Walking at three miles per hour, it takes 8-10 minutes to reach the top of the northeast ramp, which is 1,820 long and rises 180 feet from the plaza below.

The Height of Design

The stadium’s signature lighthouse in the north end zone rises 10 stories above the playing field, but is dwarfed by the height of the stadium itself, which is 16 stories tall.

Worth the Weight

Approximately 6,300 pieces of blue steel form the structure of Gillette Stadium, weighing in at 16,000 tons.

Lap of Luxury

The two Putnam Clubs at Gillette Stadium are each larger than a football field, with cathedral ceilings three stories high and floor-to-ceiling glass walls providing an end zone to end zone view of the field.

The Suite Life

The stadium’s 89 luxury suites each have granite-topped wet bars, marbled bathrooms and personal attendants.

No Bad Seat

Every single seat in Gillette Stadium is focused exactly toward midfield to provide optimum sight lines.

What a Save

Gillette Stadium’s waste water reuse system saves 11 million gallons of water each year, enough to fill 440 in-ground swimming pools.

What a Waste

The construction of Gillette Stadium required the removal of 90,000 cubic yards of blasted bedrock, 310,000 cubic yards of total excavated material and the demolition of the old Foxboro stadium and racetrack.

Concrete Example

The foundation of Gillette Stadium consists of 17,500 cubic yards of concrete, enough to build a sidewalk from Foxborough to Boston… on both sides of the street.

A Light Snack

On a typical game day, Patriots fans eat more than one ton of Italian sausage and warm up with 280 gallons of clam chowder.

A Full Roster

Up to 5,000 staff are necessary to operate Gillette Stadium for a Patriots game, at a ratio of one staff member for every 13.7 fans.

Lots of Parking

There are more than twice as many parking spaces in Gillette Stadium’s parking lots as there are parking meters in all of Boston.

Sun Block

The NRG solar canopies at Patriot Place not only block the sun to provide shade for visitors, but are part of a solar power system that reduces carbon emissions by more than 800 metric tons per year, the equivalent to taking 575 cars off the road.