University of Denver Arena was a 5,200-seat multi-purpose arena in Denver, Colorado. It was home to the University of Denver Pioneers ice hockey team. It also hosted several Frozen Fours. It was razed in 1997 to make room for the $75 million Magness Arena, (part of the Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness) which opened in 1999.
Originally a Naval Drill Hall built during World War II in Farragut, Idaho, the DU arena was donated to the University after the war and reassembled on the Denver campus in 1948-49 to house the University's then-new ice hockey program.
The arena was refurbished in 1972-73 when the roof needed repairs, and 14 seven-ton steel trussess were added to shore up the roof. Additional patchwork renovations were added in the 1990s, prior to razing the building in 1997.
The best known features of the arena were the steep bleacher balcony at the south end, and the 1970s rainbow painted on the north end wall. Famous hockey games held there include the NCAA ice hockey finals in 1961, 1964 and 1976.
Coordinates: 39°40′55.58″N 104°57′41.73″W / 39.6821056°N 104.9615917°W / 39.6821056; -104.9615917
Famous quotes containing the words university and/or arena:
“The university must be retrospective. The gale that gives direction to the vanes on all its towers blows out of antiquity.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“[I]t forged ahead to become a full-fledged metropolis, with 143 faro games, 30 saloons, 4 banks, 27 produce stores, 3 express offices—and an arena for bull-and-bear fights, which, described by Horace Greeley in the New York Tribune, is said to have given Wall Street its best-known phrases.”
—For the State of California, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)