.gif)
Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt University)
Encyclopedia
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.
; 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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. Usually called Memorial Gym or simply Memorial, the building is located on the western end of the Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
campus. It was built in 1952 and currently has a seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of 14,316. It serves as home court for the school's men's and women's basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
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 IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; 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.
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. 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
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
, 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
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
of basketball.
History
As Southeastern ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
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
Lipscomb University
Lipscomb University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike on the east...
and Belmont University
Belmont University
Belmont University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is the largest Christian university in Tennessee and the second largest private university in the state, behind nearby Vanderbilt University.-Belmont Mansion:Belmont Mansion...
, 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
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
basketball game.
Host for post-season college basketball
Memorial Gym has hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball ChampionshipFinal four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
on four occasions (1973 regionals, 1982/1989/1993 first- and second-round games).
It has served as an NCAA Women's Basketball Championship
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual college basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981–82 season...
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
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
coach Pat Kennedy
Pat Kennedy
Pat Kennedy is an American college basketball coach who most recently was men's basketball coach at Towson University before announcing his resignation on March 7, 2011. Previously, Kennedy coached at Iona College, Florida State University, DePaul University, and the University of Montana.Kennedy...
complained about the arrangement after his team lost a first-round NCAA Tournament game there.
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.
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
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
—and has been called the "Fenway Park of College Basketball."
Memorial Gym was the site of the Jeff Lacy
Jeff Lacy
Jeffrey Scott Lacy is an American boxer. He is a former International Boxing Federation super middleweight champion.-Amateur career:...
versus Jermain Taylor
Jermain Taylor
Jermain Taylor is an American professional boxer and former undisputed middleweight champion. He made his professional boxing debut in 2001 and won his first 25 bouts, which included victories over former champions Raúl Márquez and William Joppy...
WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
super middleweight
Super middleweight
Super Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds .- 1960s–1983 :There was interest in a division between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...
elimination bout on November 15, 2008, the first time that the gym had hosted a major professional boxing event.