Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center - History

History

Originally known as the Men's Physical Education building, plans for the MAC Center were drawn up in the late 1940s as Kent State saw a rapid enrollment increase in men following World War II. The facility opened in 1950 and hosted its first men's basketball game on December 2, 1950, a 51-46 Kent State win over the Pittsburgh Panthers. As of 2010 it is the 19th-oldest arena in U.S. college basketball. The original building included the main gym and a pool, connected by a folding wall, as well as offices and other rooms to house the Physical Education department. The building replaced Wills Gymnasium, built in 1923, as the home of the Golden Flashes men's basketball, swimming, and wrestling teams. In 1956, the Men's Physical Education building was rededicated as Memorial Gym in honor of Kent State students who died in both world wars.

In 1977 construction began on the MACC Annex (originally known as the Memorial Gym Annex or MGA), which included a new facility for the gymnastics team that connects with the main gym by way of a removable wall. Most of the Annex addition, which opened in 1979, was built as a separate building behind the MAC Center which is connected by a second floor bridge. The Annex originally included a large central gym with four adjacent basketball courts as well as auxiliary gyms, courts, a weight room, classrooms, and offices for the School of Dance and the School of Exercise, Leisure, and Sport and would serve as the Kent State Recreation Center until 1999. Today the Annex also houses graduate student studios from the College of Architecture in space taken from two of the original four basketball courts.

The arena underwent a major renovation in 1992. This renovation removed the swimming pool in the front of the building and replaced it with a new three-story lobby and the Blue and Gold Club Loge. The renovation also included a new scoreboard system, parquet floor, improved lighting, and new facade on the front of the building. In 2006, a new court was installed, along with a new scoreboard system.

In a 5 December 2006 interview with the Record-Courier, KSU Athletic director Laing Kennedy discussed future plans for the MAC Center, which include renovating the lower level of seating to create a bowl and installing chair-back seats for the entire level. With the new design, fans would enter all levels of seating from the second level instead of the current court-level entrances. Additional plans include renovating the Blue and Gold Club loge and dividing it into smaller private loges. No timetable was announced for the changes other than they would follow plans to upgrade Dix Stadium, which were completed in 2008.