Construction work is well underway on one of the first multi-purpose stadiums designed for both baseball and football. It would be known as Cleveland Municipal Stadium, a mammoth-sized ballpark that would cost $2,500,000 to build along the lakefront and could hold up to 78,000 for baseball and 83,000 for football.
This photo was taken just under nine months afterconstruction was started on June 24, 1930. It would open on July 1, 1931 and two days later the stadium hosted a Max Schmeling heavyweight fight that drew 37,000. The first Major League baseball game was not until the following year on July 31, 1932 when the Cleveland Indians lost to Lefty Grove and the Philadelphia Athletics 1-0. The inaugural contest drew 80,184, which would be a Major League record at the time.
One big misconception we keep running into is that this huge venue was built with the hopes of winning the bid for the 1932 Olympics. The problem with that thinking is Los Angeles was awarded the Olympics in 1923, fives years before Cleveland Municipal Stadium was approved by voters.
