$1.33 million[2] ($16.8million in 2023 dollars[3])
Architect
Fulton, Krinsky, and Dela Motte Braun and Steidl (1992 renovation)[2]
Tenants
Kent State Golden Flashes (NCAA) Men's basketball 1950–present Women's basketball 1977–present Women's gymnastics 1964–present Women's volleyball 1978–present Wrestling 1950–present Men's gymnastics 1950–1994 Men's swimming 1950–1988 Women's swimming 1962–1988
The Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, often referred to as the MAC Center and the MACC, is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. The building is primarily used as an athletic venue that is home to five Kent State Golden Flashes varsity athletic teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and wrestling. In addition, it hosts commencement exercises, speakers, and concerts throughout the year. The building houses the offices of the Kent State Athletic Department and the coaches of each of the university's varsity athletic teams.
The MAC Center opened in 1950 as the "Men's Physical Education Building" to replace Wills Gymnasium as the home of the men's basketball, wrestling, and men's swimming programs and men's physical education department. From 1956 to 1991, it was known as Memorial Gymnasium in honor of Kent State students who died in World War I and World War II. It was expanded in 1977 and underwent a major renovation between 1990 and 1992. Since 1992, the arena seating capacity has been listed at 6,327 in the basketball configuration. The MAC Center is a regular site for the Mid-American Conference championship meets for both wrestling and women's gymnastics and a past host of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) events.[4][5] As of 2024, the building is the 21st-oldest arena in NCAA Division I college basketball and oldest in the Mid-American Conference.
History
Plans for the MAC Center were drawn up in the late 1940s as Kent State saw a rapid enrollment increase in men following World War II. It was one of multiple construction projects at KSU during the post-war period, which included the first men's dormitory, Stopher Hall, in 1948, and a new practical arts building, later named Van Deusen Hall, in 1951. The state of Ohio approved funding in 1947 for the gym and work began in late April 1949 with an official groundbreaking on May 3, 1949.[6][7] It was built on what was then the southern edge of campus on a hill overlooking Memorial Stadium, which was expanded with a new grandstand and press box dedicated in October 1950. The new Men's Physical Education Building was dedicated December 2, 1950, and hosted its first three athletic events that day as part of the dedication exercises. The wrestling team defeated Case Institute of Technology 21–8, followed by a 42–33 men's swimming victory over the Ohio Bobcats, and concluded with the men's basketball team claiming a 51–46 upset win over the Pittsburgh Panthers in front of approximately 4,000 fans.[1][8][9][10] As of 2024 it is the 21st-oldest arena in U.S. college basketball.[11] In its original configuration, building included the main gym and a pool, connected by a removable wall, as well as offices and other rooms to house the Physical Education department. The building replaced Wills Gymnasium, built in 1925, as the home of the Golden Flashes men's basketball, swimming, and wrestling teams. In 1956, the Men's Physical Education building was rededicated as Memorial Gym in honor of Kent State students who died in both world wars.[12]
In 1977 construction began on the MACC Annex (originally known as the Memorial Gym Annex or MGA), which included a new facility for the gymnastics team that connects with the main gym by way of a removable wall.[2] Most of the Annex addition, which opened in 1979, was built as a separate building behind the MAC Center which is connected by a second floor bridge. The Annex originally included a large central gym with four adjacent basketball courts as well as auxiliary gyms, courts, a weight room, classrooms, and offices for the School of Dance and the School of Exercise, Leisure, and Sport and would serve as the Kent State Recreation Center until 1999. For many years, up until 2016, the Annex housed graduate student studios from the KSU College of Architecture in space taken from two of the original four basketball courts. Since March 2016, the Athletic Training and Education Center, a 10,000-square-foot (930m2) sports medicine facility, is located in the Annex. It includes three therapy pools, a cryotherapy unit, training areas, and meeting rooms.[13]
Interior view in 2010
The arena underwent a major renovation between 1990 and 1992. This renovation removed the swimming pool in the front of the building and replaced it with a new three-story entrance lobby, ticket office, and the Blue and Gold Club Loge on the third level. The renovation also included a new facade on the outside of the new lobby, a new scoreboard system, parquet floor, and improved lighting. The name of the facility was changed to Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center on November 20, 1991, as a result of a survey of students, alumni, faculty, and staff.[14] In 2006, a new court was installed, along with a new scoreboard system.
Additional upgrades, such as a sideline LED display, were added in the late 2000s, and a new lighting system was installed in 2014. Larger renovations and remodeling have been discussed. In December 2006, KSU Athletic director Laing Kennedy discussed plans to renovate the lower level of seating to create a bowl and install chair-back seats for the entire level. With the new design, fans would enter all levels of seating from the second level instead of the current court-level entrances. Additional plans included renovating the Blue and Gold Club loge and dividing it into smaller private loges. No timetable was announced for the changes other than they would follow plans to upgrade Dix Stadium, which were completed in 2008.[15] The athletic department announced updated plans for the MAC Center in 2013 as part of the larger "Building Champions" fundraising drive to upgrade facilities across the university. Plans for the arena include new chairback seating in both lower level sideline seating areas, a new practice court, four suites, remodeling the existing Blue and Gold loge, and other upgrades and changes to the arena, office, and lobby areas. Additionally, plans also call for practice areas for the wrestling, women's volleyball, and women's gymnastics teams to be built in available space in the adjacent MACC Annex.[16] More specific plans were laid out in March 2016 as part of the athletic department's strategic vision, known as "The Game Plan". The first phase of updates was completed in August 2016 with the replacement of chairback seats in sections A–E.[17]
The MAC Center's most visible role is that of being the home court for five of the university's intercollegiate athletic teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and wrestling. The Kent State men's basketball team has played home games at the MAC Center since the building opened in 1950 and through the 2009–10 season has an all-time home record of 488–255 (.657). Since 1998, the team has a 149–23 (.866) record in the MAC Center.[11] The largest crowd at the building was 7,778 for a game against St. Bonaventure on January 10, 1970. Since the 1992 renovation, the largest crowd to see a game in the MAC Center was 6,567 on March 4, 2007 against arch-rival Akron.[1] The KSU women's basketball team has an all-time record of 306–101 (.752) which includes a 43-game winning streak that ran from December 3, 1997 to December 1, 2001.[18][19] Since the 2000 season, the women's gymnastics team has a 60–10 record at the MAC Center.[20] The northern end of the building is the gymnastics center and serves as the practice facility for the women's gymnastics team. It connects to the main arena by way of a removable wall. Prior to 2005, most home meets were held in the gymnastics center by reversing the direction of a section of baseline bleachers.
The MAC Center houses administrative offices for the athletic department, coaches' offices for the various teams, the main ticket office, and hosts a variety of events including guest speakers, concerts, and graduations for both the university and local high schools. University commencement exercises are held three times a year in May, August, and December. Before the development of class registration by way of telephone and over the Internet, the MAC Center was the long-time site of class registration along with Wills Gymnasium.[25]
The arena has also hosted speakers, comedians, and political figures. Comedian Bill Cosby performed two shows in 1969,[30] and comedian Robin Williams came to the building in 1982.[31] U.S. President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to visit Kent State University when he held a rally in the MAC Center as part of his re-election campaign in 2012.[32] Democrat Hubert Humphrey also campaigned in the arena, holding a rally in 1968 as part of his presidential campaign.[33] Other political figures to speak in the MAC Center include two former First Ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt in 1954 and Barbara Bush in 2000. Filmmaker Michael Moore spoke in the arena in 2004 in an event that included an appearance by actress/comedian Roseanne Barr. The event was part of Moore's Slacker Uprising Tour, which was later made into a documentary.[34] Filmmaker Ken Burns spoke at the MAC Center in 2014 as part of the university's Presidential Speaker Series.[35]
Layout
View of main lobby showing elevator and third floor
Built as a physical education building, the interior of the arena consists of seating areas on each side of the floor with balcony seating along each sideline. All seating sections are bleacher seats except for chairback seats in the lower sideline section opposite the team benches and in the Blue and Gold Loge.
On the first floor are located the main and auxiliary lobbies, restrooms, gymnastics training area, and athletic department offices. The Varsity K Hall of Fame is located outside the southern arena doors. There is also a display showing all the donors who have endowed scholarships to athletics. The main lobby is three stories high and was built as part of the 1992 renovations on what was originally the swimming pool. It includes an elevator, concession stands, the Steve Milkovich Family Ticket Office, team shop, the Laing and Saundra Kennedy Blue and Gold Trophy Room, and the Scolin MacLean Donor's Lounge (nick-named "The Scolly Bear Lair") which houses the offices of The Golden Flashes Club. The four auxiliary lobbies are located at each corner of the arena and provide access to restrooms, drinking fountains, and stairs to the balcony sections. Football office are located near Lobby A, Men's Basketball offices near Lobby B, Women's Basketball offices near Lobby C, and Volleyball offices are located near Lobby D.
The team locker rooms, additional coaches' offices, GFTV, Equipment Room, and storage are located on the second floor, underneath the balcony sections.
1 2 3 4 "The MAC Center". 2008-09 Men's Basketball Media Guide. Kent State University. 2008-10-28. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
↑ Kent State Athletic Communications (2008-03-06). "MAC Decides '08". www.kentstatesports.com. Kent State University. Retrieved 2008-03-30.[dead link]
↑ Hildebrand, William H.; Keller, Dean H.; Herington, Anita D. (1993). A Book of Memories: Kent State University 1910-1992. Kent, Ohio, USA: Kent State University Press. p.121. ISBN0-87338-488-1.
The Bert L. and Iris S. Wolstein Center is a 13,610-seat indoor arena located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the campus of Cleveland State University (CSU). It is home to the Cleveland State Vikings men's and women's basketball teams and previously served as the home of the Cleveland Crunch of the National Professional Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League from 1992 to 2005 and the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League from 2021 to 2024.
The State Farm Center is a large dome-shaped 15,544-seat indoor arena located in Champaign, Illinois, owned and operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The arena hosts games for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, women's basketball, and wrestling teams. It also doubles as a performance and event center, and is one of the largest venues between Chicago and St. Louis. It opened in 1963 and was known until 2013 as Assembly Hall until State Farm Insurance acquired naming rights as part of a major renovation project.
Welsh–Ryan Arena is a 7,039-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States, near the campus of Northwestern University. It is home to four Northwestern Wildcats athletic teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and wrestling. It is located inside McGaw Memorial Hall, to the north of the site of the former Ryan Field.
Pan American Center is a multi–purpose arena in Las Cruces, New Mexico, located on the campus of New Mexico State University. The arena has a current seating capacity of 12,515 people.
Dix Stadium is a stadium in Kent, Ohio, United States. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Kent State Golden Flashes football team. In addition, since 2016 the stadium is also home to the Kent State women's soccer team and since 2019 to the women's lacrosse team. Previously, it was home to the Kent State field hockey team from 1997 to 2004 and served as a secondary home for the KSU men's soccer team in the 1970s. It opened on September 13, 1969 and was named in 1973 after Robert C. Dix, former publisher of the Record-Courier and a member of Kent State's Board of Trustees for more than three decades. It was built as an expansion and relocation of Memorial Stadium, with all of Memorial Stadium's main seating areas used at the current stadium in a new configuration. During soccer games, the playing surface is known as Zoeller Field.
Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. The arena, which opened in 1969, is best known as the former home of the Auburn men's and women's basketball, women's gymnastics, and wrestling teams. The teams finished their stays at the facility at the end of the 2009–10 season, with all of its tenants moving into the new Auburn Arena opening in time for the 2010–11 season. In addition to sports, numerous concerts were held in the facility. The coliseum continues to house athletics offices as well as classrooms and office space for Auburn's Department of Geosciences.
Fred Bramlage Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Manhattan, Kansas, with an official capacity of 11,000. It is the home to the Kansas State University men's and women's basketball teams, and used to serve as the venue for Kansas State's women's volleyball team. The facility currently holds offices for various administrative and business units for K-State Athletics, and the track & field team. Bramlage was previously the home for other K-State team offices, including women's soccer and baseball.
Gill Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Corvallis, Oregon, located on the campus of Oregon State University. Opened in December 1949, the arena currently lists a seating capacity of 9,301 and is home to the Oregon State Beavers' basketball, wrestling, volleyball, and gymnastics teams. It is named after Amory T. "Slats" Gill, the Beavers' basketball coach for 36 seasons, who compiled a 599–392 (.604) record.
The Marriott Center is a multi-purpose arena in the western United States, located on the campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. It is home to the BYU Cougars men's and women's basketball teams. The seating capacity for basketball games at the Marriott Center is officially 17,978. It is the largest basketball arena in the Big 12 Conference and is among the largest on-campus basketball arenas in the nation.
Jersey Mike's Arena, commonly known as the RAC, is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Piscataway, New Jersey on Rutgers University's Livingston Campus. The building is shaped like a truncated tent with trapezoidal sides on the north and south ends. It is home to the men's and women's Rutgers Scarlet Knights basketball teams as well as the wrestling and gymnastics teams. Previously, the university used the 3,200-seat College Avenue Gym from 1931 to 1977.
Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center is the name of the main athletic department building at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The building opened December 11, 1972, and is named in honor of former athletics director Charles M. "Bubber" Murphy, a standout athlete at the college in the 1930s, who also served as head coach of Middle Tennessee State's football (1947–1968), basketball (1948–1949), and baseball programs.
Memorial Coliseum, coloquailly known as "The House That Rupp Built" and "Historic Memorial Coliseum", is an 8,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The facility, which opened in 1950, is home to four women's teams at the University of Kentucky – basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and stunt. Before Rupp Arena opened in 1976, it also housed the men's basketball team. Memorial Coliseum also housed the university's swimming and diving team prior to the 1989 completion of the Lancaster Aquatics Center.
David R. Stopher Gymnasium or Stopher Gym is a 3,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Thibodaux, Louisiana, United States, on the campus Nicholls State University. It is named for David R. Stopher.
Fitzgerald Field House is a 4,122-seat multi-purpose athletic venue on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Fitzgerald Field House is named for Rufus Fitzgerald, a past chancellor (1945–1955) of the university. It is the primary home competition venue for the university's gymnastics, volleyball, and wrestling teams.
The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level with football competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Kent State is a full member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and has been part of the MAC East division since it was created in 1998. Official school colors are Kent State Blue and Kent State Gold.
The Sam M. Vadalabene Center is a multi-purpose sports and recreation building on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) that features an arena with a seating capacity of just over 4,000. The Vadalabene, which opened in 1984, was named in honor of Illinois State Senator Sam M. Vadalabene (1914–1994), who was a long-time and ardent supporter of the university. The Vad Pad is home to the SIUE Cougars basketball, volleyball, and wrestling teams. In addition to the arena, the Vadalabene also houses a swimming pool, classrooms, offices, and several activity areas. The Student Fitness Center (SFC), built in 1993, is immediately adjacent to and an integral part of the venue and contains numerous additional recreational and fitness facilities.
The Sobrato Center in San Francisco, California, is an athletic venue on the University of San Francisco (USF) campus. It contains War Memorial Gymnasium and serves as home for the San Francisco men's and women's basketball teams as well as the women's volleyball team. It also houses athletic department offices and training facilities for the university's other athletic teams. It is currently the oldest basketball venue in the West Coast Conference. It is popularly known as "The Hilltop" because of USF's position on the summit of Lone Mountain. On some occasions, St. Ignatius College Preparatory hosts their basketball games here as well.
The Kent State Golden Flashes women's basketball team represents Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. The Golden Flashes compete in the Mid-American Conference and last played in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament in 2024. Founded in 1973 as a club team, the Kent State women's basketball team received varsity status in 1975 and played their first official game in January 1976. Through the 2023–24 season, the Flashes have six total appearances in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament along with four Mid-American Conference tournament championships, five MAC overall titles, and nine MAC East division titles. Home games are held at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, which has been the team's home venue since 1977. The head coach is Todd Starkey, who was hired April 19, 2016.
Wills Gymnasium, often referred to as Wills Gym, was a multi-purpose athletic facility on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. Construction started in 1924 and the building was dedicated in 1925. It was the first dedicated gymnasium on the KSU campus, which had opened in 1913. Before the opening of Wills Gym, physical education classes and the intercollegiate and intramural sports teams used a variety of spaces for games and classes, both on campus in other buildings and off campus. The main gym seated approximately 4,000 people and the basement level included an indoor pool, locker rooms, and bowling alley. At the time, its capacity made it one of the largest facilities in the region. The building served as the primary home of the university's athletic teams and physical education department until 1950, when the Men's Physical Education Building opened. Wills Gym was the first permanent home of the Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team, and was also the original home venue for wrestling, men's swimming, men's and women's gymnastics, women's volleyball, and women's basketball.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
