text: An Ohio stadium that hosted rock and roll legends and football games for decades after it was built during the Second World War now sits abandoned and in the midst of decay in the northeast corner of the Buckeye State. The Rubber Bowl in Akron, which hosted acts like the Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr, Black Sabbath, Simon & Garfunkel, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Metallica, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead and Aretha Franklin, has been basically unused for more than five years. In addition to serving as a concert venue, the stadium also functioned as the home of the University of Akron's football team, the Zips, for more than 65 years. Scroll down for video . The Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio, was built in 1939 and it served as the home for the University of Akron's football team for 68 years . The Rubber Bowl hosted acts such as Three Dog Night, Ringo Starr, Black Sabbath, Simon & Garfunkel, Alice Cooper and Jon Bon Jovi . The City of Akron owned the Rubber Bowl after it was built, but let the university purchase the title to the stadium for just $1 in 1971 . The Rubber Bowl hosted 310 UA football contests, 19 preseason Cleveland Browns' games and a regular-season NFL game in 1952 . Members of Metallica and Van Halen on the Monsters of Rock Tour in 1988 stopped at the Rubber Bowl in Akron (pictured) The team played its first game at the stadium in 1940, the year after it was built, and finished their season there in November of 2008 against the University of Buffalo, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. The university purchased the title to the Rubber Bowl from the City of Akron for the price of $1 in 1971. The Rubber Bowl hosted 310 UA football contests, 19 preseason Cleveland Browns' games, a regular-season NFL game in 1952 and over 1,500 high school games, according to FootballPark.com. It also hosted other events including wrestling, soccer matches and the circus. There were originally hopes the stadium could also hold events like Easter sunrise services, pageants, light operas, musicals, conventions, track meets, bicycle races, midget auto races, softball tournaments, exhibition tennis tournaments, rodeos, Mardi Gras festivals, winter carnivals and ice hockey. The stadium, which can now hold more than 35,000 people, was closed in 2009 when the Zips moved into InfoCision Stadium. It has has sat empty ever since, Cleveland.com reported. During the 1972 performance by the Rolling Stones at the Rubber Bowl, Mick Jagger 'hopped around like a Hopi Indian' one reviewer said . Bands like Van Halen, Metallica, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead and Aretha Franklin also have played there . The pictures of how the Rubber Bowl looks now were taken by photographer Seph Lawless as part of his Autopsy of America project . Lawless, a Cleveland native, has been traveling and using his camera to document abandoned parts of America for the last several years . The Zips first played at the stadium in 1940, the year after it was built, and finished their season there in November of 2008 against Buffalo . The pictures of how the Rubber Bowl looks now were taken by photographer Seph Lawless, a Cleveland native. He has been traveling and documenting abandoned parts of America for the last several years as part of a project called Autopsy of America. Lawless told Daily Mail Online: 'I've been to a lot of abandoned areas of the country but nothing is more surreal than being inside the larger abandoned structures. 'It's like being in an episode of  The Walking Dead. 'It often feels like the world has ended and you're the only person left and somehow I'm ok with that feeling. 'It's almost peaceful. Lawless didn't make it to see the Rolling Stones at the Rubber Bowl in 1972, but he was there 16 years later for the Monsters of Rock Tour featuring Van Halen, Metallica and the Scorpions in 1988. He said: 'I remember going here to see my very first rock and roll concert to watch Metallica perform, which was amazing. 'Hearing live music outdoors in a venue like this was part of the rock and roll experience... the scent of cigarettes and spilled beer. 'When Metallica performed their song Fade to Black, everyone held lighters up. 'It was so intense you could just feel the heat. 'That night people could see the Rubber Bowl from outer space. It was out of this world.' The UA Zips left the stadium in 2009 and moved into InfoCision Stadium. It has been sitting empty and falling into disrepair ever since . Art Garfunkel (left) and Paul Simon (right) of Simon and Garfunkel answer questions at a press conference at the stadium in July of 1983 . The Toledo Rockets are seen running onto the turf during a college football game between their school and Akron Zips in 2008 . Bob Waterfield played quarterback for the Cleveland Rams in 1945 when the team faced the Philadelphia Eagles at the Rubber Bowl . In addition to hosting rock concerts and football games, the Rubber Bowl has housed events like wrestling, soccer and even the circus . The Rubber Bowl, which cost about $550,000 to build, was sold to Team1 Properties  for $38,000 in 2013. The group's plan to refurbish the stadium into a home for a United States Football League team fell apart, but there is still hope for the Rubber Bowl. Bill Dunn, vice president of marketing for Team 1 said: 'We are going to put it back where it was, but with all the updated amenities. 'Those photos really show the worst parts of the stadium. 'Most of the damage is cosmetic.' Dunn added that the stadium's structure is still sound and it could be open and running within six to eight months. There were originally hopes the stadium could host events like Easter sunrise services, pageants, light operas, musicals and conventions . Rubber Bowl backers also thought it could hold track meets, bicycle races, midget auto races, softball tournaments rodeos and ice hockey . The Rubber Bowl, which cost about $550,000 to build, was sold to Team1 Properties for $38,000 in 2013 and it is supposed to be redone . The group's plan to refurbish the stadium into a home for a United States Football League team fell apart, but there is still hope . The vice president of marketing for Team 1 said the stadium's structure is still sound and it could be open and running within six months .
target: The Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio, built in 1939 and served as home for the University of Akron's football team .
  The Zips played at the field for more than 65 years before finishing their run there with a game in November of 2008 .
  The stadium, which can hold more than 35,000 people, was sold to Team1 Properties for $38,000 in 2013 .
  Group wanted to refurbish the stadium into a home for a United States Football League team but plan fell apart .