Full name | Walter Pyramid |
---|---|
Former names | The Long Beach Pyramid |
Location | 1250 Bellflower Boulevard Long Beach, CA 90840 |
Coordinates | 33°47′14″N118°6′51″W / 33.78722°N 118.11417°W |
Owner | Long Beach State University |
Operator | Long Beach State University |
Capacity | 4,200 [1] (With additional seating, a record attendance of 6,912 occurred on November 16, 2012 versus North Carolina) |
Surface | Beechwood |
Scoreboard | Yes |
Construction | |
Broke ground | December 17, 1992 [2] |
Opened | November 30, 1994 |
Construction cost | $23 million ($45.2 million in 2023 dollars [3] ) |
Architect | Don Gibbs |
Structural engineer | John A. Martin & Associates |
General contractor | Nielson Construction Company |
Tenants | |
Long Beach State Beach men's basketball Long Beach State Beach women's basketball Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball Long Beach State Beach women's volleyball |
The Walter Pyramid, formerly known as The Long Beach Pyramid, is a 4,000-seat, pyramid-shaped indoor multi-purpose arena on the campus of Long Beach State University in Long Beach, California. [4]
The Walter Pyramid was officially opened on November 30, 1994, when it hosted a Long Beach State men's basketball game against the Detroit Titans, which aired live on ESPN. A standing-room only crowd of 5,021 saw Long Beach come away victorious with a final score of 71-64.
The Walter Pyramid was designed by Don Gibbs and built by the Nielson Construction Company of San Diego. The building of Walter Pyramid cost approximately $22 million. Each side of the perimeter of Walter Pyramid measures 345 feet (105 m), and it is 190 feet (58 m) tall. [5] It is one of only four mathematically true pyramid-style buildings in the United States, the others being the Summum Pyramid in Salt Lake City, Utah, Luxor Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Memphis Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Walter Pyramid rises 18 stories above the Long Beach skyline and its exterior is uniformly clad in sheets of dark-blue corrugated aluminum.
On March 5, 2005, Long Beach State officially renamed The Pyramid to Walter Pyramid in honor of Mike and Arline Walter. The Walters were given this recognition for a $2.1 million donation given to the university. [6] In addition to being the vice-president of Levi Strauss & Co., Mike Walter was also a dean for Long Beach State's College of Business Administration from 1993 to 2000. [7]
The Walter Pyramid is currently home to the Long Beach State Beach men's basketball and Long Beach State Beach women's basketball programs, as well as the Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball and Long Beach State Beach women's volleyball programs. All LBSU teams playing home games in the Walter Pyramid are nicknamed “the Beach”. The teams were previously known as the 49ers but that nickname was recently dropped. Prior to the construction of the Walter Pyramid on campus, the men's basketball team played some of their games in the Long Beach Arena in downtown Long Beach, and at the on-campus University Gymnasium later renamed Gold Mine, which has just 1,900 seats.
In addition to being the home for Long Beach State athletics, the Walter Pyramid as hosted several NCAA-sponsored events including numerous women’s volleyball NCAA matches, the 2001 and 2003 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championships and the 2003 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Regionals.
The Southern California Summer Pro League used the Walter Pyramid during the summer months from 1995 to 2007. The league showcased current and prospective NBA basketball players, including recent draft picks, current NBA players working on their skills and conditioning, and international professionals hoping to become NBA players. The league went on hiatus for the 2008 season and announced its intention to move to Los Angeles for 2009. [8]
The Walter Pyramid was home to the Long Beach Stingrays, a women's professional basketball team of the now-defunct American Basketball League for a time in 1997 and 1998.
The Walter Pyramid hosts the World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships or, in Portuguese language, Mundials .
New Japan Pro-Wrestling presented the show Strong Style Evolved on March 25, 2018, which sold out within minutes. In 2019, they held the finals of the Super J-Cup. The company returned to the venue on May 21 2023, presenting Resurgence.
The Los Angeles Sparks played a 2019 WNBA Playoffs semifinals game at the Walter Pyramid. For the first 5 games of the 2024 season, the Sparks will play their first 5 games at the Pyramid while Stage 3 of upgrades is happening to their main arena.
Viejas Arena is an indoor arena in San Diego, California, located on the campus of San Diego State University. It is the home of the San Diego State Aztecs men's and women's basketball teams. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I as a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW). The arena is also the home of the San Diego Mojo of the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF).
The Bob Devaney Sports Center is a sports complex on the campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. The 8,309-seat arena opened in 1976 and serves as the primary home venue for several of Nebraska's athletic programs. The complex is named for Bob Devaney, who served as Nebraska's football coach from 1962 to 1972 and athletic director from 1967 to 1992.
The Jon M. Huntsman Center is a 15,000-seat indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. It is the home of the Utah Utes of the Big 12 conference, the primary venue for basketball and gymnastics.
The SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center is a 10,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH). Initially named the Special Events Arena when it opened in 1994, the arena was renamed the Stan Sheriff Center in 1998 in honor of Stan Sheriff (1932–1993), a former UH athletic director who lobbied for its construction. Bank of Hawaii secured naming rights on a 10-year, $5-million contract announced on November 12, 2020, which added a prefix to the facility's official name—"SimpliFi" being the brand name of the bank's digital banking experience.
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is a 13,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, near present-day Johnny Appleseed Park. It opened in 1952 with a construction cost of nearly $3 million. The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was originally designed to seat 8,103 for hockey or 10,240 for basketball. Opened in 1989, the Coliseum's $26 million Exposition Center contains 108,000 square feet (10,000 m2) devoted to hosting substantial trade shows and other events with seating for 7,500.
CEFCU Arena, formerly known as Redbird Arena, is a 10,200-seat multi-purpose arena located in Normal, Illinois, on the campus of Illinois State University. Built in 1989, the building is notable for its use of a Teflon-coated roof that gives off a "glow" during night events. Three Illinois State Redbirds athletic teams use the facility as their home court: men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball.
John M. Belk Arena is a 5,295-seat multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina, United States.
Charles Koch Arena is a 10,506-seat multi-purpose arena in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is located on the southeast corner of 21st and Hillside on the campus of Wichita State University in northeast Wichita. The arena is home of the Wichita State Shockers men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball teams.
Desert Financial Arena is a 14,198-seat multi-purpose arena located at 600 E Veterans Way in Tempe, Arizona, United States, in the Phoenix metropolitan area. It sits immediately east of Mountain America Stadium on the northern edge of the Tempe campus of Arizona State University (ASU).
Dale F. Halton Arena at the James H. Barnhardt Student Activity Center is an indoor sports venue located on the main campus of UNC Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States of America. It is the home venue of the Charlotte 49ers men's and women's basketball teams and volleyball team. Halton Arena was named for the former president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Charlotte. She was a benefactress to the university and served on the university's board of trustees. The building was funded entirely through private donations and student fees.
The Dee Glen Smith Spectrum is a 10,270-seat multi-purpose arena in the western United States, located on the campus of Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Best known as the home of the Utah State Aggies men's and the women's basketball teams, it also hosts gymnastics, volleyball, and other sporting events. The elevation at street level is approximately 4,770 feet (1,450 m) above sea level.
Dee Events Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the western United States, located on the campus of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. The circular, 11,592-seat domed arena, similar in design to many of the era, opened 47 years ago in 1977. It was named for the Lawrence T. Dee family, for his extensive contributions in building the arena.
Alex G. Spanos Center is a 6,150-seat, indoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
Fant–Ewing Coliseum is a 7,085-seat multi-purpose arena in Monroe, Louisiana, United States, on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. It was built in 1971 and is home to the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks men's and women's basketball teams and women's volleyball team. The arena also hosts concerts and events.
The Gersten Pavilion is a 3,900-seat multi-purpose arena in Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the Loyola Marymount University Lions. It was built in 1981 and has been used for home games by the university's men's basketball, women's basketball, and volleyball teams since January 1982.
The Convocation Center is a multipurpose arena on the campus of Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States. The arena has a listed seating capacity of 3,805 people and opened in 2005. It is home to the Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball teams, as well as the administrative offices for the KSU athletic department. It is also available for other events and has hosted concerts, conferences, and trade shows, as well as sporting events.
Koessler Athletic Center is a 2,196-seat multi-purpose arena in Buffalo, New York on the campus of Canisius College.
The George M. Holmes Convocation Center is an 8,325-seat multipurpose arena in Boone, North Carolina, United States, on the campus of Appalachian State University. The convocation center is named for George M. Holmes, a 1954 graduate and member of the North Carolina General Assembly. The arena itself is named for Seby Jones. It was built in 2000 and is home to four athletic teams: Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball, Appalachian State Mountaineers women's basketball, volleyball, and indoor track and field. The inaugural event was a men's basketball game held on November 17, 2000 between the Mountaineers and the Tar Heels of North Carolina. The facility replaced Varsity Gymnasium. The George M. Holmes Convocation Center’s mission is to provide facilities for the Department of Health, Leisure and Exercise Science and to support the academic processes of Appalachian State University. Serving as a multipurpose for the northwestern region of North Carolina, the center supports university sponsored events, such as commencement and college fair. Cultural events, concerts, trade shows, athletic events and other public assembly activities are also a part of the center’s programming.
The Nebraska Coliseum is an indoor coliseum on the campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was the home of Nebraska's men's basketball team from 1926 to 1976 and volleyball team from 1975 to 2013. Since volleyball moved to the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2013, the Coliseum has been primarily used for student recreation, and occasionally hosts wrestling meets.
The James H. and Jesse E. Millis Athletic and Convocation Center is a 1750-seat multi-purpose athletic and academic facility on the campus of High Point University (HPU) in High Point, North Carolina. The basis of the building is Alumni Hall, it is home to the high point university panthers men’s basketball which was built in 1957. In 1992, the facility was added upon, creating the office space, classrooms and pool on the western side of the facility, as well as adding a state-of-the-art press box.