Wisconsin Football

Does your college town suck? The University of Notre Dame

Another non-town, town...good God people, get it together.

By Ryan Mellenthin@ThatsSoRyan85 Sep 24, 2021, 8:59am CDT

New to the line up this season: we will be examining the various college towns of Wisconsin’s opponents. We’ll be answering all of the important questions – Is it a state capital? What is the population? Does it have a Culver’s?

Facts:

City: Notre Dame, Indiana

Size: 1.274 square miles

Location: 41°42′01″N 86°14′19″W

Population: 6,342 (2020)

State Capitol? No

Time zone: Eastern

Landmarks: The Golden Dome, Touchdown Jesus, Basilica of the Sacred Heart

About:

Notre Dame, Indiana is a census-designated place, located north of South Bend, Indiana. A census-designated place is a statistical geographic entity representing closely settled, unincorporated communities that are locally recognized and identified by name. They are the equivalents of incorporated places, with the primary differences being the lack of a legally defined boundary and an inactive, functioning government.

Notre Dame, the census-designated place, includes the campuses of three schools: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College and Holy Cross College. It is split between Clay and Portage Townships.

As you can tell, this is a very holy place…furthering the religious-ness of the area is the fact that the Holy Cross Religious Communities has three major headquarters in Notre Dame. The Sisters of the Holy Cross have their Congregational Administration on the campus is Saint Mary’s, the Provincial Offices are located on the Holy Cross Campus.

Since unincorporated communities do not have municipal government, their government entities are the US Post Office and the universities police forces. The University of Notre Dame also has its own water and power utilities and fire department.

Some iconic landmarks that you will find at the University of Notre Dame include, but are not limited to the Golden Dome, Touchdown Jesus and Basilica of Our Sacred Heart.

The Golden Dome is the is the roof of the administration headquarters, but it is recognizable because of the shiny appearance, which is covered in actual gold leaf. The dome is also visible from miles around on a clear day.

Touchdown Jesus is “The Word of Life” mural on the side of the Hesburgh Library. The reason for the name is that Jesus faces the north end zone of the football stadium and his arms are raised, practically signifying a touchdown.

Lastly, Basilica of Our Sacred Heart is the tallest structure on campus, featuring a 12-foot golden cross at the top of its bell tower. It also features gothic-inspired design with murals and stained-glass windows.

Bars:

If you’re looking for bars in the census-designated Notre Dame, look no further than Legends of Notre Dame, which is a university owned sport bar. Legends has a comprehensive beer and wine list with cocktails as well. The menu ranges from Irish Nachos, wings, burgers, Monk Malloy’s Guinness Battered Fish & Chips, to Nutella Beignets on the dessert menu.

If you’re looking for something off campus, your best bet is to head into South Bend, where you will find a host of local drinking establishments with an Irish theme, such as Finnie Next Door, The Blarney Stone and O’Rourke’s Public House.

Oh, and South Bend does have several Culver’s restaurants. Jesus and frozen custard, what more could you want?

Stadium:

Notre Dame Stadium has a capacity of 80,795 and was opened in 1930. Prior to the 1997 construction, the stadium only held 59,075 fans, leading to a large up-tick in attendance once construction was completed, which cost $50-million dollars.

Notre Dame Stadium was recently in the news, as the stadium was not large enough for Purdue’s “World’s Largest Drum,” leaving the Boilermakers to be without the large percussion instrument for the first time since 1979.

“According to a communication from the University of Notre Dame, our Band will not be permitted to take the World’s Largest Drum through their tunnel and onto the football field for this Saturday’s game,” said Aaron Yoder, a spokesman for the university’s bands and orchestras. “Notre Dame Athletics has restricted use of their main tunnel to their own football team and band, which is the only entrance large enough for the Drum. We have been told that visiting teams and bands have to use a separate tunnel that is much smaller. Our Drum is about 10 feet tall on its carriage and 565 pounds so it doesn’t even come close to fitting in this other tunnel.”

Isn’t one of those religious sayings ‘let thy neighbors use your bigger tunnel for their drum?’ No? Either way, I don’t think that’s what Jesus would have done…

Previously, Purdue had used the main tunnel to bring the drum out to the field at Notre Dame Stadium, but renovations in 2017 added a visitor’s tunnel, which has a smaller opening, so the drum wouldn’t fit. One could say that Purdue’s percussion, couldn’t penetrate the passage.