It is adjacent to Stadium High School and has views of Commencement Bay and Puget Sound from its open north end.

The stadium was built from 1909 to 1910 using steam shovels and sluicing to move more than 180,000 cubic yards (140,000 m3) down the edges of the gulch to create a flat playing field of 2.5 acres (1.0 ha).

[4] Wooden molds were built to cast concrete for 31 rows of stadium seating (able to hold 11,000 spectators) surrounding the playfield.

[8] One of its first major events held at the new stadium was a military tournament in late July with 32,000 spectators on the final night.

[4] The Stadium Bowl was condemned due to unsafe conditions, namely the cracked concrete,[11] in 1949 but was later reopened in 1961 following the rebuilding of seated areas at a cost of $60,000.

[17] In October 1981, a burst storm drain washed away the scoreboard and the north end zone of the football field.

[22] The flooding would cause all subsequent sporting events at the stadium to be postponed, canceled, or relocated to nearby fields or schools.

While singing Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", Ledger ran up and down the iconic stairs of the Bowl.