History
Initially known as the Minnesota Field House (another building has that name today), Williams Arena was constructed in the 1920s and opened in 1928. The original construction of Williams Arena cost $650,000 - a small amount compared to the cost of building a venue like this today. The arena was remodeled in the 1950s, and renamed Williams Arena after Dr. Henry L. Williams, the football coach from 1900 to 1921.
During a 1950s renovation, it was divided into two separate arenas within one building. The larger one for basketball and the smaller one for hockey were called Williams Arena until March 2, 1985, when the hockey section was renamed Mariucci Arena after John Mariucci. The hockey team moved into a new building across the street from Williams in the early 1990s. This building was also named Mariucci Arena. The old Mariucci Arena within Williams was remodeled into the Sports Pavilion and now houses the volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastic teams.
The venue hosted the 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament championship game and the 1964 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Mideast Regional. Williams Arena has hosted the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA women's basketball tournament in 2005, 2007, and 2010. The hockey portion of Williams hosted the Frozen Four in 1958 and 1966.
Read more about this topic: Williams Arena
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“In history the great moment is, when the savage is just ceasing to be a savage, with all his hairy Pelasgic strength directed on his opening sense of beauty;—and you have Pericles and Phidias,—and not yet passed over into the Corinthian civility. Everything good in nature and in the world is in that moment of transition, when the swarthy juices still flow plentifully from nature, but their astrigency or acridity is got out by ethics and humanity.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)