The Eureka!Treasure Hunting Club visited Hughes Stadium on Feb. 18 with metal detectors to search for lost CSU treasures before the stadium is demolished.
The club’s Historical Artifact Recovery Team (HART) set out to find anything of value, and pledged to return any discoveries to the university.
Norman Ruggles is an alumnus as well as longtime friend and donor to the university who graduated with a degree in technical journalism from CSU in 1971. His son, Matt Ruggles, also attended CSU and graduated in 1995. Matt is a former student of Greg Luft, chair of the Department of Journalism and Media Communication.
Luft has kept in contact with the Ruggles family over the years, and invited Norman’s metal detecting club to scour the grounds of Hughes to dig up pieces of CSU’s history that may have been lost during the hundreds of tailgating parties that have taken place over the last five decades.
“CSU has been a big part of our lives, and it’s great to be up to visit and contribute in any way we can,” said Norman.
The primary finds of the day were about $3 in change, lots of bottle caps, and a few other odds and ends. The most interesting item was a small rodeo pin from 1976 in the shape of the state of Louisiana, found in the disc golf area where the old rodeo grounds used to stand.
“Norman has been very generous with the department over the years, and it is great to have him and his club up here looking for history,” said Luft.
The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication is in CSU’s College of Liberal Arts.
Stadium demolition timeline
The CSU System Board of Governors has approved the deconstruction and demolition of Hughes Stadium to prepare the property for future development. Here is the timeline:
- Now until Mid-March – CSU Facilities Management is overseeing preparation of the grounds for demolition
- Mid-March – Dismantling of smaller structures within the stadium will begin
- Mid-March – Staging of equipment for large-scale demolition will begin
- April – Large-scale demolition will begin and continue through Fall 2018
Click here for more information on the demolition of the stadium and the process for future development of the Hughes property.