| "The Bill" | |
 | |
| Location | 200 Commonwealth Avenue Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°23′21.77″N72°32′0.38″W / 42.3893806°N 72.5334389°W 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 ($86.4 million in 2017 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.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system. UMass Amherst has an annual enrollment of approximately 1,300 faculty members and more than 30,000 students and was ranked 27th best public university by U.S. News Report in 2018 in the national universities category.
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County. The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, three of the Five Colleges. The name of the town is pronounced without the h ("AM-erst"), giving rise to the local saying, "only the 'h' is silent", in reference both to the pronunciation and to the town's politically active populace.
The UMass Minutemen basketball team represents the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts, in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. They play their home games in the William D. Mullins Memorial Center. The Minutemen currently compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
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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.
Ludlow is a New England town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,103 as of the 2010 census, and it is considered part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located just northeast of Springfield across the Chicopee River, it is one of the city's suburbs. It has a sizable and visible Portuguese and Polish community.
The Curry Hicks Physical Education Building, better known as the Curry Hicks Cage, is an athletic facility on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst. It was built in 1931 as the Physical Education Building by alumnus Clinton Goodwin. It was rededicated in 1941 and named in honor of Curry Hicks, who had been the athletic director at the school since 1911. With a capacity of 4,000, the venue served as the site of indoor athletic contests including men's basketball from its opening until January 1993 when it was replaced by the more modern and much larger Mullins Center. While the basketball team played at the Cage, it was known as one of the loudest buildings in the Northeast.
The Mullins Center is managed by Global Spectrum, which manages over 70 different event arenas throughout the United States.
