James A. Rhodes Arena

James A. Rhodes Arena
"The JAR"
	James A. Rhodes Arena Location in OhioLocation in United States James A. Rhodes Arena James A. Rhodes Arena (the United States)
Location	373 Carroll Street; Akron, Ohio 44303
Owner	University of Akron
Operator	University of Akron
Capacity	5,500
Surface	Hardwood
Construction
Broke ground	March 8, 1982
Opened	December 3, 1983
Construction cost	$12.5 million; ($36.7 million in 2023 dollars)
Architect	Thomas T. K. Zung
Tenants
	Akron Zips (NCAA); Men's basketball (1983–present); Women's basketball (1983–present); Women's volleyball (1984–present)

Last updated December 18, 2024

James A. Rhodes Arena, nicknamed "The JAR", is an arena in Akron, Ohio, United States, on the campus of the University of Akron. Named for former Ohio governor Jim Rhodes, the arena opened in 1983 and is home to the Akron Zips men's and women's basketball teams and women's volleyball team. It was built next to and replaced the university's 3,000-seat Memorial Hall.

History

The new facility was six years in the making. In 1977, the Ohio General Assembly appropriated $8 million to build a 10,000-seat building over the next two years. But by October 1978, when preliminary plans for the new complex were presented and accepted by the Ohio Board of Regents, the cost of construction had risen to $12.5 million.^[2] So the University scrapped the original design in favor of a scaled-down version: a 125,538-square-foot (11,662.9 m²) building, including an 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m²) wood floor, designed by architect Thomas T. K. Zung. The University Board of Trustees approved the new version in July 1981, and ground was broken on March 8, 1982.

The building opened on December 3, 1983. The building sits on the eastern edge of campus, on the northeast corner of Union and Carroll streets, on a site that once served Fire Station No. 5 and a parking lot.^[2]

The JAR hosted the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament in 1986.

In 2002, renovations included a new hardwood floor, four Opto Tech LED displays screen above the game floor, and a $1.1 million sound system. The new system, built under the guidance of the University Athletic audio engineers, replaced a distributed horn-powered PA system with very narrow dispersion angles, coupled with near-proximity coaxial speakers for the upper deck. This setup led to several hot zones and many fans wondering what the announcer said. That changed in 2005 with the installation of a fully zoned system employing EVH-model horn-loaded boxes coupled with six TX Series subwoofers in the South catwalk for the tipoff "Thunderstruck" kick. A separate zone was also included for the floor for the UA Dance Team and Basketball team warmups. Precision series EV combined amplifiers and DSPs tune the system. A Midas Venice series mixing console along with several channels of external dynamic channel processing, as well as better hyperspheric modulation accelerators, handle all audio inputs. The system has reached a 115 dB during games, and is rated up to 130 dB.^[3] Over the years, the dedication to auditory excellence of the University's audio engineers has never wavered as they ushered in a new era of high fidelity with several upgrades, bringing the UA fan experience into the digital age. Five hyper-spheric modulation repeaters were added to bridge the gap. UA fans will now enjoy data-optimized audio experiences bringing a personalized, mobile audio experience to every fan. The facility seats 5,500 people on two floors. In addition to the court, the first level features locker rooms, a sports medicine and training facility, a ticket office, a fan team shop and meeting rooms.^[3]

During the early 2000s, when LeBron James played on the boys basketball team from nearby St. Vincent - St. Mary High School, some home games were played at the JAR, where they typically outdrew the Zips' men's games.^[4]

The decision to name the arena after former governor Rhodes was highly controversial; he ordered the Ohio National Guard to nearby Kent State University before the May 4, 1970 shootings. Because of anticipated protests, the dedication of the building was not publicly announced in advance.

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References

↑ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
1 2 "JAR Arena". Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
1 2 http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10800&KEY=&ATCLID=319729%5B‍%5D
↑ ESPN.com: NCB - Zips try to retake Akron from LeBron

External links

James A Rhodes Arena - Akron Zips

41°4′33″N81°30′31″W / 41.07583°N 81.50861°W / 41.07583; -81.50861

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[inflation-US-1] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[www3.uakron.edu-2] 1 2 "JAR Arena". Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2009-02-12.

[gozips.com-3] 1 2 http://www.gozips.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10800&KEY=&ATCLID=319729%5B‍%5D

[4] ESPN.com: NCB - Zips try to retake Akron from LeBron

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v t e Akron Zips men's basketball
Venues	Crouse Gymnasium (1902–1920s) Akron Armory (1920s–1954) Memorial Hall (1954–1983) James A. Rhodes Arena (1983–present)
Culture & lore	Zippy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Akron Zips women's basketball
Venues	Memorial Hall (1974–1983) James A. Rhodes Arena (1983–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

James A. Rhodes Arena

Contents

History

See also

Related Research Articles

References

External links

Construction
"The JAR"

James A. Rhodes Arena Location in OhioLocation in United States Show map of Ohio James A. Rhodes Arena James A. Rhodes Arena (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	373 Carroll Street Akron, Ohio 44303
Owner	University of Akron
Operator	University of Akron
Capacity	5,500
Surface	Hardwood
Broke ground	March 8, 1982
Opened	December 3, 1983
Construction cost	$12.5 million ($36.7 million in 2023 dollars^[1])
Architect	Thomas T. K. Zung
Tenants
Akron Zips (NCAA) Men's basketball (1983–present) Women's basketball (1983–present) Women's volleyball (1984–present)