History
Prior to the building of the arena, the men’s basketball team played at Johnson Gymnasium, a 7,800-seat multi-purpose gym on the University’s main campus. However, with the surge in popularity following the hiring of Bob King and the team’s appearance in the finals of the 1964 National Invitation Tournament, it was decided that a new, larger arena was needed for the team’s growing and dedicated following. The site chosen was across University Boulevard from University Stadium on the University’s new South Campus. The design won international recognition for chief architect Joe Boehning, who still resides in Albuquerque. The arena was built with its floor lying 37 feet (11 m) below grade, giving rise to its now-famous nickname. The 338-by-300-foot Behlen roof was built first, before the pit was excavated and concrete was poured for the foundations. There are no supporting pillars in the seating area of the arena, so there are no obstructed views. The compact area, steep grade and proximity of the seats to the floor contributes to the legendary noise level. Originally seating 14,831, the $1.4 million arena (inexpensive even in its time) opened on Dec. 1, 1966, with New Mexico defeating Abilene Christian College, 62–53. In 1992, to honor the coach who made the arena’s construction possible, the basketball court was renamed Bob King Court.
Read more about this topic: The Pit (arena)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The awareness that health is dependent upon habits that we control makes us the first generation in history that to a large extent determines its own destiny.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“A poet’s object is not to tell what actually happened but what could or would happen either probably or inevitably.... For this reason poetry is something more scientific and serious than history, because poetry tends to give general truths while history gives particular facts.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)
“... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)