$1.33 million[2] ($16.2million in 2022 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 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.
The team locker rooms, training areas, additional offices, and storage rooms 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.
↑ 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.
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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.
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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.
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