Palestra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Palestra | |
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| "College Basketball's Most Historic Gym" | |
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| Location | 215 S 33rd St Philadelphia, PA 19104 |
| Broke ground | 1926 |
| Opened | January 1, 1927 |
| Owner | University of Pennsylvania |
| Operator | University of Pennsylvania |
| Architect | Charles Klauder |
| Tenants | Penn Quakers (basketball, volleyball & wrestling) (NCAA Division 1) (1927-present) Philadelphia Big 5 Basketball (La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, Villanova) (NCAA Division 1) (1955-present) Saint Joseph's Hawks (basketball) (NCAA Division 1) (2008-2009)[1] |
| Capacity | 8,722 |
- For the Greek and Roman sports arenas, see Palaestra
The Palestra is a historic arena and the home gym of the University of Pennsylvania Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 men's basketball. Located at 215 South 33rd St. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, near Franklin Field in the University City section of Philadelphia, it opened on January 1, 1927.
Though originally seating approximately 10,000, the Palestra's capacity in its current configuration for basketball is 8,722. The Palestra is famed for its close-to-the-court seating with the bleachers ending at the floor with no barrier to separate the fans from the game. It was one of the first modern steel-and-concrete arenas in the United States and also one of the first to be constructed without interior pillars blocking the view. At the time of its construction, the Palestra was one of the largest arenas in the world.
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[edit] History
The building was completed in 1927 and named by Greek professor Dr. William N. Bates after the ancient Greek term palæstra, a rectangular enclosure attached to a gymnasium where athletes would compete in various sports in front of an audience. Penn's Palestra was built adjacent and is today still connected to Hutchinson Gymnasium.
The first basketball game was played at the Palestra on January 1, 1927. Pennsylvania defeated Yale 26-15 before a crowd of 10,000 fans, a capacity crowd, and then the largest crowd to ever attend a basketball game on the East Coast.
For many years the building shared the same management as Madison Square Garden in New York City. Teams wishing to play there were often required also to schedule a game at the Palestra, which led to Philadelphia hosting a number of very high-level sporting events that it might not otherwise have. Many professional games were played at the Palestra prior to the completion of the Spectrum in 1967.
[edit] College Basketball at the Palestra
The Palestra has hosted more regular season or post-season NCAA men's basketball games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other arena in the country. It is often dubbed as "the birthplace of college basketball". It has hosted the East regionals six times (most recently in 1980), and the sub-regionals ten times (most recently in 1984). In total, 52 NCAA Tournament games have been played at the gym since it first came to Penn's campus in 1939. Today, the gym is the oldest major college arena still in use.
The Philadelphia Big 5 (Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, La Salle, Villanova) originally played all of its games at the Palestra. Today, the intra-city conference still plays about half of its round-robin games there. St. Joseph's hosts all of its Big 5 games at the gym (which is larger than its own arena, Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse). Recently, St. Joseph's has hosted games against large-drawing opponents at the Palestra. During the 2007-08 season, St. Joseph's played some of their games at the Palestra. Also, due to construction in their home arena, Saint Joseph's will play all of their home games at the Palestra in the 2008-09 basketball season[2].
In addition, parts or all of the 1989-95 Atlantic Ten Conference men's basketball tournaments were contested there. The gym has also served as the site of many Philadelphia and PIAA championship games.
[edit] Palestra 2000
In 2000, a $2-million renovation to the gym included the addition of a museum celebrating the history of Philadelphia basketball in the building's main concourse. Near the main entrance to the gym is a section recognizing the St. Joseph's legendary Hawk mascot who made its first appearance at the Palestra on Jan. 4, 1956. At the other end of the concourse, by the ramp to sections 211 and 210 a scoreboard lists the all-time record of the Penn-Princeton rivalry.
Each decade from the 1950's on has its own exhibit in the concourse. The 1970s section "A Decade of Prominence" celebrates the Final Four runs by Villanova (1971) and Penn (1979).
[edit] Documenting the Cathedral of College Hoops
In the Summer of 2007, ESPN Classic nationally broadcast a one-hour documentary on the historic arena, entitled "The Palestra: Cathedral of Basketball." This feature-length documentary traces the evolution of college basketball through the rise of this most storied arena, creatively exploring how this building became the stomping ground for the game that captured the heart of America, and how its majesty would ultimately diminish as the very sport it had nurtured would blossom into lavish and high-priced popularity. Eight decades in the most hallowed halls of college hoops is illuminated through never-before-seen historical footage, the majestic voice-over talents of NFL Films' Harry Kalas, and interviews with college basketball's most noted figures, such as NBA great Bill Bradley; Naismith Hall of Fame Coaches Chuck Daly, Dr. Jack Ramsay and John Chaney; best-selling sports author John Feinstein; and, CBS/ESPN analyst Bill Raftery.
Written, produced and directed by former Penn Women's Basketball player Mikaelyn Austin (founder of Philly Philms), this definitive sports documentary promises to keep alive the rich history and tradition of a true Cathedral of the game. After airing on ESPN Classic, local PBS telecaster WHYY has used the film for use during pledge drives.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Palestra: Cathedral of Basketball - documentary on historic gymnasium, premiered on ESPN
- The Palestra - Penn Athletics
- Five we like, Five we want to see
- 'Nova should play at the Palestra
- Palestra named one of the Top Ten College Sports Venues by Sports Illustrated
| Preceded by Wister Hall |
Home of the La Salle Explorers 1955 – 1989 |
Succeeded by Philadelphia Civic Center |
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