McKale Center

McKale Center
	Lute & Bobbi Olson Court
	200px
Full name	McKale Memorial Center
Location	1 National Championship Drive; Tucson, AZ 85721
Coordinates	Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owner	University of Arizona
Operator	University of Arizona
Capacity	14,700 (2014–present); 14,545 (2000–2014); 14,489 (1997–2000); 14,343 (1996–1997); 14,257 (1994–1996); 13,814 (1992–1994); 13,662 (1990–1992); 13,477 (1988–1990); 13,124 (1986–1988); 13,316 (1984–1986); 13,658 (1973–1984)
Construction
Broke ground	November 1970
Opened	February 1, 1973
Construction cost	$8,145,077; ($43.4 million in 2024 dollars)
Architect	Place and Place, Inc.
General contractor	Sundt Construction, Inc.
Tenants
	Arizona Wildcats (NCAA) 1973-present

File:Mckale040409.JPG

McKale Center, looking west

File:Lynchpavil040409.JPG

Entrance to the Eddie Lynch Athletics Pavilion

McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena located at 1756 E University Blvd on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is primarily used for basketball, but also features state-of-the-art physical training and therapy facilities. Its construction is marked with a large copper cap that has turned brown over time. McKale Center is home to the University of Arizona Wildcats basketball team. The arena opened in February 1973 and has an official capacity of 14,655 spectators.^[4] It hosted the 1988 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament.

The McKale Center was named in honor of J.F. "Pop" McKale, athletic director and coach of all sports at the University of Arizona for a time, a figure at the university from 1914 to 1957. McKale was head basketball coach of Arizona from 1914 to 1921, where he recorded a 49-12 record.

McKale was coach of the Arizona football team from 1914 to 1930, with a record of 80 wins, 32 losses and six ties. His winning percentage of .714 was one of the top in the university's history. It was one of McKale’s tough football teams that brought the nickname of “Wildcats” to the university.^[5]

In 1914, McKale's football team, which had little or no standing in intercollegiate football, played Occidental College in Los Angeles, and even though they lost 14-0, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times was so inspired with the team’s desire to win that he wrote: “the Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats…". The name stuck and today the University of Arizona teams are known as the "Wildcats."^[5]

The University of Arizona is in the Pac-12 Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Following the Arizona State University game on February 26, 2000, the University of Arizona athletic department honored head coach Lute Olson with a ceremony to name the McKale Center floor, "Lute Olson Court". Then, during a memorial service in January 2001 for Olson's late wife, Bobbi, it was renamed, "Lute and Bobbi Olson Court" in recognition of the couple's impact on the university and the city of Tucson.^[6]

In 2002, the Eddie Lynch Athletics Pavilion, a state-of-the-art medical and strength/conditioning facility for Wildcat student athletes, was completed and opened. The pavilion (which cost $14 million) was a 36,000-square-foot (3,300 m²) addition to the north end of McKale Center. The upper level has a 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) museum-like display area, open to the public, showcasing the history of Arizona Wildcat athletics.^[7]

In terms of capacity, McKale Center is the second largest arena in the Pac-12 conference. Utah's Jon M. Huntsman Center is the largest basketball arena in the conference, but Arizona averages greater attendance.^[8]

Proposed Renovation

In December 2012, the University of Arizona Athletic Department was given approval by the Arizona Board of Regents to select an architect to renovate McKale Center. "The hope is to get it to be where it's one concourse enclosed that you can walk around and have the restrooms and concessions and everything tied to it," said Greg Byrne, the Arizona Athletic Director.^[9] The renovation would also include a club area, luxury seating, and more room for the athletics offices that occupy the McKale Center. The Arizona Athletic Department ultimately decided on AECOM to plan and design the renovation. The project will be completed in several phases between 2014-2017 at a cost of $80 million. McKale Center will remain open during the construction process due to the fact that much of the project will take place during the off-season. The first phase of the renovation includes a brand new high-definition video scoreboard which was completed at the end of December 2013. Other parts of the first phase also included new seating, a new floor, an improved locker room area and expanded restrooms and concessions. The first phase was completed in November 2014. The renovation has added 155 additional seats to McKale; which increases the overall capacity to 14,700.^[1]

Major events

Host of the 1988 Pac-10 Conference men's basketball tournament.
On January 12, 2011 the McKale Center hosted a memorial service for the 2011 Tucson shooting victims in which President Barack Obama was the keynote speaker.^[10]
The arena has been a frequent site for games in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament since its opening. McKale Center hosted the first and second rounds of the tournament in 1979, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2005; the second and third rounds in 2011; and the West Regional semifinals and final in 1974 and 1980.

Inside McKale Center

McKale Center (Upper Deck).jpg

Upper Deck
Upper Student Section
President Barack Obama speaks in honor of the victims of the 2011 Tucson shooting

References

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↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 David Leighton, "Street Smarts: Before arena, road named for "Pop" McKale", Arizona Daily Star, June 17, 2014
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External links

[azdsmckale-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[inflation-US-2] 1634 to 1699: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 1700-1799: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 1800–present: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

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[tucson.com-5] 5.0 ^5.1 David Leighton, "Street Smarts: Before arena, road named for "Pop" McKale", Arizona Daily Star, June 17, 2014

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v t e Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Bear Down Gym (1926–1973) McKale Center (1973–present)
Rivalries	Arizona State UCLA
Culture & lore	History Bear Down Wilbur and Wilma "Fight! Wildcats! Fight!"
People	Head coaches Notable players NBA draftees
Seasons	1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 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 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 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 1999–00 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
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

McKale Center

Contents

Proposed Renovation

Major events

Inside McKale Center

References

External links

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Construction
Lute & Bobbi Olson Court
200px
Full name	McKale Memorial Center
Location	1 National Championship Drive Tucson, AZ 85721
Coordinates	Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owner	University of Arizona
Operator	University of Arizona
Capacity	14,700 (2014–present)^[1] 14,545 (2000–2014) 14,489 (1997–2000) 14,343 (1996–1997) 14,257 (1994–1996) 13,814 (1992–1994) 13,662 (1990–1992) 13,477 (1988–1990) 13,124 (1986–1988) 13,316 (1984–1986) 13,658 (1973–1984)
Broke ground	November 1970
Opened	February 1, 1973
Construction cost	$8,145,077 ($43.4 million in 2024 dollars^[2])
Architect	Place and Place, Inc.
General contractor	Sundt Construction, Inc.^[3]
Tenants
Arizona Wildcats (NCAA) 1973-present