- Tin Can
coord|35|54|33|N|79|2|49|W|display=titleInfobox Stadium
stadium_name = The Tin Can
nickname =
The Tin Can in 1946
location = South Road, Chapel Hill, N.C.,United States (demolished)
broke_ground = 1921 UNC EIS, Main incl. Stats.]
opened = 1924
closed = 1938 UNC EIS, Alias & Notes 1923–38]
demolished = 1977
owner =University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
construction_cost = $6,741.72 [UNC EIS, Alias & Notes 1921–29.]
architect = Bard-Knox Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., United States
tenants =North Carolina Tar Heels (NCAA) 1924-38
seating_capacity = N/A
dimensions = 300 × 110 feet (91 × 34 m)Officially named the "Indoor Athletic Center (or Court)", the Tin Can was the home of
North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball from the 1924 until the team's relocation to theWoollen Gymnasium in 1938. [Powell, pp. 16.] [Rappoport, pp. 17.] It replaced Bynum Gymnasium, a venue known for its unusual running track suspended above the court. [Powell, pp. 15.]Rudimentarily built of steel, attempts to heat the building during early season at first failed, with ice often forming inside:The team, known as the "White Phantoms", used this to their advantage, becoming one of the South's most successful programs by the mid-1920s. [Powell, pp. 17.]
As success continued into
Southern Conference play in the 1930s, the capacity of the Tin Can proved insufficient to meet the increased interest in the team. North Carolina played their last of their games there at the end of the 1938 season, having officially moved to the adjacent Woollen Gymnasium onJanuary 4 ,1938 . [Powell, pp. 29.] In fourteen years, the team had accumulated a 120–38 winning record. [Powell, pp. 24.]No longer needed for major athletic events the Tin Can was used for a variety of purposes during the remainder of its life. Immediately after
World War II , the arena housed returning veterans due to a shortage of dormitary space, [UNC EIS, Alias & Notes 1944–48.] while in the early 1950s it was used for storage of medical equipment before the completion of North Carolina Memorial Hospital. [UNC EIS, Alias & Notes 1949–52.] After hosting a limited number of indoor track meetings in preceding years, the Tin Can was finally demolished in 1977 to allow the construction of the present day Fetzer Gymnasium. [UNC EIS, Alias & Notes 1952/77.]Notes
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