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Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center (Murphy Center for short) is the name of the main athletic department building at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States. The building was built in 1973 and named in honor of Charles M. Murphy, a standout athlete at the college in the 1930s. The building houses most of the university's athletics offices, some classroom space, athletic practice facilities and weight rooms, racquetball courts, and most notably, the 11,520-seat multi-purpose Monte Hale Arena.
[edit] Hale Arena
Monte Hale Arena is home to the MTSU Blue Raiders basketball and volleyball teams. Hale Arena features a bowl of permanent box seats around the basketball floor and eighteen sections of collapsible bleachers on the concourse above the bowl. While the arena was named in honor of local sportswriter Monte Hale, it is often simply referred to as "Murphy Center". It has hosted the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament three times: 1975, 1985 and 1987; and hosted the Sun Belt Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments in 2006. Hale Arena is also home to the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's (TSSAA) boys and girls Division I state high school basketball and volleyball championships. MTSU's graduation ceremonies are held in the arena as well.
[edit] Music venue
From its opening until the mid-1990s, Murphy Center was the Nashville area's premier indoor concert venue, hosting shows by Elvis Presley, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Kiss and the final farewell concert by The Judds. Since the opening of Nashville's Sommet Center in 1996, however, Murphy Center rarely hosts concerts.
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