Location | 200 Commonwealth Avenue Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 |
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Coordinates | 42°23′21.77″N72°32′0.38″W / 42.3893806°N 72.5334389°W |
Owner | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
Operator | Global Spectrum |
Capacity | 9,493 (basketball) 8,387 (hockey) |
Surface | 200 × 95 ft (hockey) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | January 1991 |
Opened | February 4, 1993 |
Construction cost | $51 million ($108 million in 2023 dollars [1] ) |
Architect | Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc. |
Structural engineer | Lim Consultants, Inc. [2] |
General contractor | Suffolk Construction Company |
Tenants | |
UMass Minutemen basketball (men's and women's) UMass Men's ice hockey |
The William D. Mullins Memorial Center, also known as the Mullins Center, is a 9,493-seat multi-purpose arena (10,500 for 360 concerts), located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Mullins Center is the home of UMass Minutemen men's basketball, women's basketball, and men's ice hockey. In addition, the venue hosts numerous concerts, family shows, theater shows, and commencements annually. Located adjacent to the Mullins Center is the Mullins Community Ice Rink, which is open for public skating and racquetball, while also serving as the home rink for the UMass women's ice hockey team.
In 1985, William D. Mullins, a state representative from Ludlow, suggested that the university needed a multipurpose arena and convocation center to help expand the athletic program and assist in the university's growth. He died in 1986, but the state went ahead with the building of the complex, naming it for him. It replaced the Curry Hicks Cage, the 1930s-era basketball gymnasium, as home of the Minutemen basketball teams. In addition, it allowed the hockey team, which had been downgraded to club status since the late 1970s, to be elevated to Division I status.
The Mullins Center is managed by Spectra, which manages over 70 different event arenas throughout the United States.
The Mullins Center has hosted many performances over the years, including:
Marcus Dion Camby is an American former professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006–07 NBA season, leading the league in blocked shots per game. Camby is also a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team and is 12th on the NBA's all-time career blocks list.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system, and was founded in 1863 as the Massachusetts Agricultural College. It is also a member of the Five College Consortium, along with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley.
The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses, a satellite campus in Springfield and also 25 campuses throughout California and Washington with the University of Massachusetts Global.
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The UMass Minutemen Ice Hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college ice hockey program that represents the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Minutemen are a member of Hockey East. They play at the 8,387-seat William D. Mullins Memorial Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.