Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt University)

For other places with the same name, see Memorial Gymnasium (disambiguation).

Memorial Gymnasium
Memorial Gym, Memorial, or The Fenway Park of College Basketball
Location	25th Ave. South & Vanderbilt Place Nashville, TN 37235
Opened	December 6, 1952
Owner	Vanderbilt University Board of Trust
Operator	Vanderbilt University
Surface	Ingram Court
Construction cost	$1.5 million
Architect	Edwin Keeble
Capacity	14,316 (2011)
Tenants
Vanderbilt Commodores (men's and women's basketball)

Memorial Gymnasium is a multi-purpose facility located in Nashville, Tennessee. Usually called Memorial Gym or simply Memorial, the building is located on the western end of the Vanderbilt University campus. It was built in 1952 and currently has a seating capacity of 14,316. It serves as home court for the school's men's and women's basketball programs.

Construction and unusual design

Memorial Gymnasium was built in the early 1950s. It was dedicated as the campus memorial to students and alumni killed in World War II; a plaque commemorating these people is displayed in the lobby. At the time of its construction, there was a serious discussion within the Vanderbilt community about whether the school should de-emphasize intercollegiate athletics. As a compromise, the gymnasium was built to hold only about 8,000 seats, and it would be readily adaptable to other uses.^[1]

The gymnasium floor was built up above its surroundings, more in the nature of a stage. The areas out of bounds along the sidelines were very wide, in contrast with the small facility which it replaced, where the walls were right along the sidelines and players could scrape their shoulders bringing the ball up the court. This necessitated the placement of the benches at the end of the court, which was not highly unusual at the time. In addition, each goal is anchored by two far-reaching beams attached to support columns, with extra support coming from cables stretching all the way to the gym's ceiling. In the case of a backboard shatter or beam fracture, replacing these goals would be highly difficult, compared to the usual goal setup at most venues.^[2] In addition, the shot clocks are positioned against one of the two pylons that supports the basket as opposed to nearly every other gymnasium where there are shot clocks above the backboard facing center court and behind the backboard facing parallel to the end-lines.

Memorial Gym is well known for its unusual design. The end-of-the-floor bench location is now unique in major college basketball, and said to give Vanderbilt a home court advantage, since no other facility in which opponents play is arranged in such a way. The interior walls were unpainted cinder blocks prior to a major renovation in the early 2000s. The middle of the three decks has a low ceiling and when the house lights are turned off during game play gives the distinct impression of watching a Cinemascope movie of basketball.

History

As Southeastern Conference basketball grew in popularity and Vanderbilt established itself as a basketball power, the seating capacity proved inadequate. The gymnasium had been designed in a way which made it readily expandable, and by the mid-1960s it seated 11,000. A conference championship run in 1966 led to even more demand for seats, and by the end of the decade the facility seated 15,525. It usually sold out, especially for conference games, and in the late 1960s and early 1970s Vanderbilt was consistently in the top ten for attendance in all of college basketball, a remarkable achievement for a middle-sized private institution. The arena hosted the SEC men's basketball tournament in 1984 and 1991.

In the early 1990s the building served as the host site for a "Battle of the Boulevard" rivalry game between Lipscomb University and Belmont University, two other Nashville institutions with a long history of quality basketball. The game was moved to Memorial when it became apparent that demand for tickets would greatly outstrip their availability at Belmont's former home court, tiny Striplin Gymnasium. However, even event organizers themselves were shocked when the doubleheader between the women's and men's teams sold Memorial out by the halftime of the women's game. This event still holds the all-time attendance record for an NAIA basketball game.

Host for post-season college basketball

Memorial Gym has hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship on four occasions (1973 regionals, 1982/1989/1993 first- and second-round games).

It has served as an NCAA Women's Basketball Championship host site 11 times (first- and/or second-round games in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, and 2006, plus regionals in 1998).

Florida State coach Pat Kennedy complained about the arrangement after his team lost a first-round NCAA Tournament game there.^[3]

The NCAA has used the newer Bridgestone Arena, a larger arena in downtown Nashville, for first- and second-round men's tournament games on three more recent occasions (2000, 2003, 2005) instead of Memorial Gym.

Renovations and recent history

In recent years the facility has been modernized; the addition of a press box, suites, and other amenities have reduced the seating capacity somewhat.

The addition of professional sports in Nashville initially hurt attendance, but since Vanderbilt's men's basketball team has returned to SEC contention under head coach Kevin Stallings, the gym has begun to sell out regularly once again.^[4]

The facility is favored by many basketball purists as an example of a facility designed primarily for that sport—although it also at times housed other facilities for the Vanderbilt athletic operation, such as a swimming pool—and has been called the "Fenway Park of College Basketball."^[5]

Memorial Gym was the site of the Jeff Lacy versus Jermain Taylor WBC super middleweight elimination bout on November 15, 2008, the first time that the gym had hosted a major professional boxing event.^[6]

Notes

1. ^ The adaptability of the gym is apparent through its continued used as a concert venue and a host for sporting events besides basketball. See also Memorial Gym. VUcommodores.com. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
2. ^ The difficulty of replacing the goals in event of a shatter, prior to the current goal structure, is apparent from the design of the goals themselves. See Memorial Gym. VUcommodores.com. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
3. ^ Memorial Gym. VUcommodores.com. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
4. ^ Memorial Gym. VUcommodores.com. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
5. ^ Memorial Gym. VUcommodores.com. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
6. ^ Memorial Gym. VUcommodores.com. Retrieved 11 March 2009.

External links

• The Magic of Memorial is Historical- Part I
• The Magic of Memorial is Historical- Part II
• Memorial Gym official homepage
• Memorial Gym Seating Chart - with clickable Points-of-View

Coordinates: 36°08′41″N 86°48′27″W / 36.144611°N 86.80742°W / 36.144611; -86.80742