The J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome is an indoor multi-purpose stadium

Multi-purpose stadium

Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...

 in Flagstaff

Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, on the campus of Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and has 39 satellite campuses in the state of Arizona. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.As of...

. Opened in September 1977

1977 in sports

1977 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden** Women's overall season champion: Lise-Marie Morerod, Switzerland-American football:...

, it is the home of the NAU Lumberjacks

Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and has 39 satellite campuses in the state of Arizona. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.As of...

 football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 and 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...

 teams of the Big Sky Conference

Big Sky Conference

The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,...

. The 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...

 is 16,230, with 15,000 permanent seats and 1,230 seats in portable bleachers. The Walkup Skydome has hosted five Big Sky

Big Sky Conference

The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,...

 men's basketball tournaments: 1987

1987 in sports

1987 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland** Women's overall season champion: Maria Walliser, Switzerland-American football:...

, 1997

1997 in sports

1997 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Luc Alphand, France** Women's overall season champion: Pernilla Wiberg, Sweden-American football:...

, 1998

1998 in sports

1998 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Hermann Maier, Austria** Women's overall season champion: Katja Seizinger, Germany-American football:...

, 2005

2005 in sports

2005 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Bode Miller ** Women's overall season champion: Anja Pärson -American football:...

, and 2006

2006 in sports

2006 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-American football:* January 2, Fiesta Bowl – Ohio State 34-20 Notre Dame* January 2, Sugar Bowl – West Virginia 38-35 Georgia...

.

For its first six years, the Walkup Skydome was the world's largest clear-span timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 dome, until the completion of the Tacoma Dome

Tacoma Dome

The Tacoma Dome is an indoor arena located in Tacoma, Washington, USA, approximately 30 miles south of Seattle.-History:...

 in Tacoma

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

, Washington, in 1983. The architect was Wendell Rossman, of Phoenix, also responsible for many other buildings on the surrounding NAU campus. The wood used in construction of Walkup Skydome was Southern Yellow Pine

Southern Yellow Pine

Southern Yellow Pine doesn't refer to any one species of tree, but rather a group of species which are classified as yellow pine , and are native to the Southern United States. They grow very well in the acidic red clay soil found in most of the region. The varieties include Loblolly, Longleaf,...

.

The Skydome is named after J. Lawrence Walkup, the president of NAU from 1958 to 1979, a period of tremendous growth for the university. The playing surface is at an elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

 of 6980 feet (2127 m) above sea level,
second only to Wyoming's

University of Wyoming

The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...

 War Memorial Stadium

War Memorial Stadium (Wyoming)

Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Wyoming in Laramie. It is the home field of the Wyoming Cowboys of the Mountain West Conference. It is the highest Division I FBS college football stadium in the nation; the playing field sits at...

, by 335 feet (102 m). Twenty feet (6 m) above the field is a red line marked with "7000," indicating the exact point where the building hits 7000 feet (2133 m) elevation. Originally AstroTurf

AstroTurf

AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...

, the playing surface for football is now infilled FieldTurf

FieldTurf

FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...

.

Besides sporting events, the arena is also used for commencement

Commencement

Commencement may refer to:* Graduation, the ceremony at which students receive academic degrees** Commencement speech* "Commencement" * Commencement , by Deadsy* Commencement, a novel by J...

 ceremonies, concerts, and other events such as conventions

Convention (meeting)

A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...

 and trade shows. The arena floor features 97,000 square feet (9011 m²) of space.

The Walkup Skydome is also used by the NFL's

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 during their summer training camp, held at NAU. The Cardinals are able to move inside to conduct practice when the weather is unsuitable outdoors.

External links

• Official Website
• NAUAthletics.com - official athletics site - NAU facilities
• Stadium seating campus maps and more at S&E News on Walkup Skydome