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Hawkeye Fans Miss Tailgating Hot Spot
By: Sara Stewart, Reporter
By
Claire Kellett
Story Created:
Aug 30, 2008 at 7:54 PM CST
Story Updated:
Aug 30, 2008 at 7:54 PM CST
IOWA CITY - The first Hawkeye football game of the season is also the first time thousands of tailgaters had to find a new spot to celebrate. For more than 70 years, Hawkeye supporters have crowded a 10 acre field of land less than a mile from the stadium. But Saturday was the first time, though, fans weren't vying for a precious spot on Olive Court.
A fence now blocks off the empty field that used to be the center of Hawkeye tailgating. Saturday just a small crowd was inside creating one last memory. It is the Neuzil family's land that's now been sold to a developer who will build condominium here. It's changed a tailgating tradition here that the Neuzil family, students, and fans say they'll miss.
"It's getting hard, you know. Time ticks away ,and it's getting harder and harder to realize I'm not coming back here anymore to park cars or tailgate," says Sheryl Neuzil.
Now the thousands of students and fans who used to tailgate there had to find another places spread out around the stadium area, and in most cases those spots are much more expensive.
The Coralville developer tells TV9 News he paid two million dollars for the property. Jeff Hendrickson plans to build 31 ranch-style condominiums on the land. He says the first condominium will be ready next fall.
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