Palumbo Center

A. J. Palumbo Center
	A. J. Palumbo Center Location near Downtown Pittsburgh A. J. Palumbo Center Location in Pennsylvania A. J. Palumbo Center Location in the United States
Location	600 Forbes Avenue; Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Coordinates	40°26′15″N79°59′16″W / 40.4374°N 79.9879°W Coordinates: 40°26′15″N79°59′16″W / 40.4374°N 79.9879°W
Owner	Duquesne University
Operator	Duquesne University
Capacity	4,390
Surface	Hardwood
Construction
Broke ground	September 3, 1986
Opened	June 11, 1988
Construction cost	$10.1 million; ($21.8 million in 2019 dollars)
Architect	DRS Architects
Tenants
	Duquesne Dukes (NCAA) (1988–present); Pittsburgh Piranhas (CBA) (1994–1995)

Last updated January 18, 2021

UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, originally known as A. J. Palumbo Center, is a 4,406-seat multi-purpose arena in the Uptown area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania served by exits on both Interstate 376 and Interstate 579. The arena opened in 1988, and is part of Duquesne University. It is home to the Duquesne Dukes basketball, volleyball and wrestling programs. The center hosts concerts, boxing, and other special events, and is capable of converting the seating arrangement into a sport, stage, or theatre setup.^[3] The facility was named in honor of its benefactor, Antonio J. Palumbo, who was elected to the Duquesne University board of directors and, in 1987, received an honorary doctorate of Business and Administration from Duquesne. Performance Magazine, a concert trade magazine, has consistently ranked the Palumbo Center as one of the top 10 grossing arenas of its size since its opening in 1988.^[4]

Facilities

In 2006, the Palumbo Center underwent major renovations. In addition to resurfacing the basketball court, upgrading video monitors, and replacing some seating sections, the facility was updated and renovated to include:

New men's and women's basketball staff offices
Recruiting suite
Video breakdown room
Strength and conditioning facilities
Athletic trainer facilities

The center houses the administrative offices for the athletic department and facility management. The center is also open to intramural sports and other recreation groups; however, in 2007, Duquesne University completed a new five-story recreational facility on Forbes Ave. near the A.J. Palumbo Center, which has now become the primary facility for recreational sports and activities.

After the 2009-2010 basketball season, Duquesne University began major renovations on the Palumbo Center. A new center-hung scoreboard was installed as well as new corner scoreboards. In addition, then-current bleacher seating on the north end of the arena was replaced with permanent stadium chairs. The University also received $1.8 million in private donations to upgrade the locker rooms for the men's and women's basketball teams and the volleyball team. It was called the James and Janice Schaming Athletic Center, named after the largest donor.^[5]

An even more extensive renovation began immediately after the 2018–19 basketball season. When the project is complete, expected at the start of the 2020–21 school year, the Palumbo Center will be renamed UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The new name stems from a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the family foundation of late Duquesne star Chuck Cooper, the first African American selected in an NBA draft. The Palumbo name will be transferred to the main entrance and atrium area of the renovated facility.^[6]^[7] During the renovations, the Dukes will split home games between the UPMC Events Center at Robert Morris, PPG Paints Arena and La Roche University.

Sports

Prior to the building of the facility, the men's basketball team played games at various sites around the city, including Pittsburgh Civic Arena (their exclusive home from 1964 to 1988, and used for occasional big games until 2009), Fitzgerald Field House, and Duquesne Gardens, as well as several high school gymnasiums. The first men's basketball game was played in the arena on December 3, 1988, in which Duquesne defeated St. Joseph's 73–69. As of January 2008, Duquesne men's basketball had 132-125 (.514) all-time record at the Palumbo Center.^[8] The facility is used for most major sports at Duquesne, and has played host to NIT games, WNIT games, high school post season championships, national wrestling championships, and Atlantic 10 tournament competitions. During the 1994-95 basketball season, the Palumbo Center was the home of the Continental Basketball Association's Pittsburgh Piranhas. In the team's lone season in Pittsburgh, the Piranhas lost to the Yakima Sun Kings in the 1995 CBA finals. The new Consol Energy Center, now known as PPG Paints Arena, is now the home to the annual Pitt Panthers-Duquesne Dukes City Game ^[9] as well as basketball games of regional interest, such as a men's game played on December 12, 2010 between the West Virginia Mountaineers and Duquesne.^[10]

The Palumbo Center is also home to the women's volleyball team and hosted the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2012, won by Temple.

For their 2017–18 season and part of the 2018–19 season, the arena served as the home of the Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball team for four games while the new UPMC Events Center was being built on campus.

Interior 2008 PalumboCenter2.jpg — Interior 2008

Preceded by Mellon Arena	Home of Duquesne Dukes Basketball 1988-	Succeeded by future

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Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field Sports field

Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field, commonly known as simply Rooney Field, is a 2,200-seat multi-purpose facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Situated on the campus of Duquesne University, Rooney Field is the home field of the Duquesne Dukes football, soccer and lacrosse teams.

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The City Game is an annual college basketball game between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the Duquesne University Dukes. The term "City Game" is also used refer to women's basketball games played annually between the two universities and may also be used to refer to other athletic competitions between the two schools.

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The 2016–17 Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team represented Duquesne University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dukes, led by fifth-year head coach Jim Ferry, played their home games at the A. J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 10–22, 3–15 in A-10 play to finish in last place. In the A-10 Tournament, they lost in the first round to Saint Louis.

The 2017–18 Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball team represented Robert Morris University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Colonials, led by eighth-year head coach Andrew Toole, played their home games at the PPG Paints Arena and four games at the Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as members of the Northeast Conference. They finished the season 16–17, 9–9 in NEC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed in the NEC Tournament, they upset No. 2 seed Mount St. Mary's in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to No. 1 seed Wagner.

The 2017–18 Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team represented Duquesne University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dukes, led by first-year head coach Keith Dambrot, played their home games at the A. J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 16–16, 7–11 in A-10 play to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place. As the No. 10 seed in the A-10 Tournament, they lost Richmond in the second round.

The 2018–19 Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team represented Duquesne University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dukes, led by second-year head coach Keith Dambrot, played their home games at the A. J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The 2019–20 Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team represented Duquesne University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dukes, led by third-year head coach Keith Dambrot, were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Dukes finished the season 21–9, 11–7 in A-10 play to finish in a tie for fifth place. Their season ended when the A-10 Tournament and all other postseason tournament were canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

References

↑ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved January 1, 2020.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-03-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ "A J Palumbo Center Pittsburgh". Citysearch. Archived from the original on 2007-06-18.
↑ Dunlap, Colin (2010-12-22). "Another gift will add to Palumbo renovation". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
↑ "Duquesne Announces UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and Major Renovation" (Press release). Duquesne Dukes. October 23, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
↑ Spencer, Sarah K. (October 23, 2018). "Palumbo Center renovations on tap, as is name change honoring Chuck Cooper". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved March 17, 2019.
↑ "Men's Basketball To Face Duquesne Saturday Night in Pittsburgh". cstv.com.
↑ Dunlap, Colin. "Q&A submissions 12/02/09 -- Future site of the City Game?". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09.
↑ "Sports". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-17.

External links

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[1] "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.

[inflation-US-2] Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved January 1, 2020.

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-03-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] "A J Palumbo Center Pittsburgh". Citysearch. Archived from the original on 2007-06-18.

[5] Dunlap, Colin (2010-12-22). "Another gift will add to Palumbo renovation". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2020-10-07.

[6] "Duquesne Announces UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and Major Renovation" (Press release). Duquesne Dukes. October 23, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.

[7] Spencer, Sarah K. (October 23, 2018). "Palumbo Center renovations on tap, as is name change honoring Chuck Cooper". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved March 17, 2019.

[8] "Men's Basketball To Face Duquesne Saturday Night in Pittsburgh". cstv.com.

[9] Dunlap, Colin. "Q&A submissions 12/02/09 -- Future site of the City Game?". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09.

[10] "Sports". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-17.

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v t e Duquesne Dukes men's basketball
Venues	Duquesne Gardens (1914–1956) Fitzgerald Field House (1956–1957, 1963–1964) Pittsburgh Civic Arena (1964–1988) Palumbo Center (1988–present)
Rivalries	Pittsburgh
Culture & lore	History
People	Head coaches Retired jerseys Statistical leaders
Seasons	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 1943–46 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
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

v t e Duquesne Dukes women's basketball
Venues	Campus Gymnasium (1973–1984) Pittsburgh Civic Arena (1984–1988) Palumbo Center (1988–present)
Rivalries	Pittsburgh
Culture & lore	History
People	Head coaches
Seasons	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

v t e Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball
Venues	John Jay Center (1976–1985) Sewall Center (1985–2017) Palumbo Center and PPG Paints Arena (2017–2018) North Athletic Complex (2018–2019) UPMC Events Center (2019–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	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

v t e University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
Pittsburgh	UPMC Shadyside UPMC Presbyterian UPMC Heart and Transplant Hospital Children's Hospital Ear & Eye Magee Women's Hospital Mercy Montefiore St. Margaret Western Psychiatric Institute
Regional	Altoona Bedford Memorial Chautauqua Cole East Hamot Horizon Jameson Kane McKeesport Northwest Passavant Pinnacle (Carlisle, Community Osteopathic, Hanover, Harrisburg, Lititz, Memorial, West Shore) Somerset Susquehanna (Divine Providence, Lock Haven, Muncy Valley, Soldiers + Sailors Memorial, Sunbury, Williamsport) UPMC Western Maryland
International	ISMETT (Italy) Salvator Muni (Italy) UPMC Whitefield (Ireland)
Miscellaneous	UPMC Sports Performance Complex UPMC Cancer Centers UPMC Mercy South Side Outpatient Center UPMC Pinnacle Harrisburg Polyclinic Medical Center UPMC Braddock Forbes Tower Stuttering Center of Western Pennsylvania UPMC Health Plan UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania STAT Medevac Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse Mr. Yuk U.S. Steel Tower (corporate headquarters) List of UPMC buildings in Pittsburgh
Affiliation	University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences: Dental Medicine Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Medicine Nursing Pharmacy Public Health
Sponsorships	UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (from 2020) UPMC Events Center UPMC Park