Pete Maravich Assembly Center
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| Pete Maravich Assembly Center | |
|---|---|
| "The Deaf Dome" | |
| Location | Nicholson Dr & N Stadium Rd Baton Rouge, LA 70803 |
| Opened | January 3, 1972 |
| Owner | Louisiana State University |
| Operator | LSU Athletics Department |
| Construction cost | $11.5 million |
| Former names | LSU Assembly Center (1971-88) |
| Tenants | LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (Basketball) |
| Capacity | 13,472 |
Coordinates: Pete Maravich Assembly Center is a 13,472-seat multi-purpose arena in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The arena opened in 1972. It is home to the Louisiana State University Tigers and Lady Tigers basketball teams. It was originally known as the LSU Assembly Center, but was renamed in memory of Pete Maravich, a Tiger basketball legend, shortly after his death in 1988. Maravich never played in the arena, but it was his exploits which led LSU to build a larger home for the basketball team, which languished for decades in the shadow of the school's football program.
The Assembly Center also hosted the Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournament in 1988, two months after Maravich's death at age 40 and four months before Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer signed an act to rename the building in Maravich's honor (under Louisiana law, no LSU building may be named after a living person). The assembly center is known to locals as "The PMAC" or "The House that Pete Built," or by its more nationally-known nickname, "The Deaf Dome," coined by Dick Vitale.
The slightly oval building is located directly to the north of Tiger Stadium, and its bright white roof can be seen in many telecasts of that stadium. The concourse includes Pete Maravich Pass, an area dedicated to the life and accomplishments of the famous LSU alumnus, and other memorablilia pertaining to the history of LSU Basketball. Prior to the building of the Assembly Center, LSU played its games at John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum (aka, the "Cow Palace"), located on the southeast corner of the campus.
In 1998, the arena played host to the Louisiana Bayou Beast of the Professional Indoor Football League. The Beast played 2 preseason games, 8 regular season games, and the PIFL Championship Game on August 15, 1998 in the PMAC. The building also played host to the NCAA Basketball tournament twice, in 1976 and 1986. In 1976, Indiana defeated Alabama and Marquette in the Mideast Regional en route to an undefeated season and the national championship, and in 1986, LSU defeated Purdue and Memphis to begin an unlikely run to the Final Four as a #11 seed, the lowest seed (through 2007) to reach the national semifinals.
After the NBA's New Orleans Hornets were displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the arena was under consideration as a possible temporary home for the team. The Hornets played just one of six scheduled home games at the Maravich Center in the 2005-06 season.
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