Welsh-Ryan Arena

Welsh-Ryan Arena
Construction
"The Shrine", "The Litter Box"

Former names	McGaw Memorial Hall (1952–1983)
Location	2705 Ashland Avenue Evanston, IL 60201
Owner	Northwestern University
Operator	Northwestern University
Capacity	7,500 (planned) 8,117 (1983–present) 7,070 (1981–1983) 7,013 (1973–1981) 8,800 (1960–1973) 9,500 (1952–1960)
Surface	Hardwood
Broke ground	May 1, 1951^[1]
Opened	December 6, 1952
Renovated	1983, 2017–2018
Construction cost	$1.25 million ($11.3 million in 2016 dollars^[2])
Architect	Holabird & Root & Burgee
General contractor	R.C. Weiboldt Construction Company^[3]
Tenants
Northwestern Wildcats (NCAA) Men's basketball (1952–2017, 2018–present) Women's basketball (1975–2017, 2018–present) Women's volleyball (1976–2016, 2018–present) Wrestling (1952–2017, 2018–present)

Welsh-Ryan Arena exterior

Welsh-Ryan Arena is an 8,117-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States, on the campus of Northwestern University. It is home to four Northwestern Wildcats athletic teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and wrestling. It is located inside McGaw Memorial Hall, to the north of Ryan Field.

The building opened in 1952 as a replacement for Patten Gymnasium, and was the site of the Final Four for the 1956 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. It was extensively renovated in 1983, at which time the arena inside the building was renamed Welsh-Ryan Arena. At the conclusion of the 2016–17 basketball season, plans are to renovate and upgrade the arena as part of a $110 million project scheduled to be completed by late 2018. The renovation will displace the athletic programs that use the arena for the 2017–18 season.

For years, Welsh-Ryan Arena was the smallest arena in the Big Ten Conference and the only conference facility that did not seat at least 10,000. With Rutgers University joining the conference in 2014, Welsh-Ryan became the second-smallest arena after the Louis Brown Athletic Center at Rutgers, which has a listed capacity of 8,000. Welsh-Ryan will once again become the smallest arena in the Big 10 Conference in 2018, with the listed capacity decreasing to 7,500 after renovations.

History

McGaw Memorial Hall was built through the generosity of Northwestern University trustee and donor Foster G. McGaw, founder of the American Hospital Supply Corporation. The building, named in memory of McGaw's father, Presbyterian minister and missionary Francis A. McGaw, to house sporting events and large-scale meetings. With a seating capacity of about 13,000, McGaw Memorial Hall was one of the three largest auditoriums in the Chicago area at the time of its construction. Designed by the architectural firm of Holabird & Root & Burgee and built of reinforced concrete, McGaw Memorial Hall contained 54,000 square feet of interior space. The lighting system, consisting of 180 mercury vapor lights, was said to simulate “pure daylight.”

Partitions, portable bleachers, and a removable basketball floor made the building suitable for a wide variety of uses. While the intent was to provide a space large enough to hold the entire student body of Northwestern University at once during convocations and other such campus occasions, the auditorium was also used by the North Shore Music Festival and, soon after its opening, by the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches. This event, held August 15–30, 1954, featured a convocation address by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1983 Northwestern completed extensive renovations on the interior of the McGaw Hall. In recognition of major contributions to the work, the principal interior spaces of the building have been named Welsh-Ryan Arena and the Ronald J. Chinnock Lobby. The arena itself was renamed in honor of the principal donor, Patrick G. Ryan, president of the Board of Trustees, and of his wife's parents, Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Welsh, Sr.

The McGaw Fieldhouse is a practice facility within the building, which in 1997 was renovated to allow practice space for basketball and volleyball.

In 2007, the Brown Family Basketball Center was constructed within the McGaw Fieldhouse to include new locker rooms and team lounges for the men's and women's basketball teams, as well as offices for their respective coaching staffs.

In 2016, Northwestern announced plans for a $110 million arena renovation, shuttering the facility for the 2017-18 season (the Wildcat men will play at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, with the women playing out of Evanston Township High School's Beardsley Gym that season). Capacity is expected to be reduced to around 7,500 by replacing the bleachers with chairback seats. The renovated facility will also have wider concourses, balconies behind the baskets, and suites. Before then, one of the few significant changes since the 1983 renovation had been the replacement of the arena's 1980s-vintage scoreboards with a modern video board.^[4]

References

↑ "NU Will Begin Work Tuesday on Fieldhouse". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 29, 1951. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
↑ Dubin, Howard (August 15, 1952). "New McGaw Hall to Open for First Basketball Game". The Daily Northwestern. Northwestern University. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
↑ Greenstein, Teddy (13 June 2016). "Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena to receive long-overdue overhaul". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 22 December 2016.

External links

Welsh-Ryan Arena (from NUSports.com)

Preceded by Municipal Auditorium	NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Finals Venue 1956	Succeeded by Municipal Auditorium

Northwestern University
Located in: Evanston, Illinois
Academics	Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences School of Communication Bienen School of Music Kellogg School of Management McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Medill School of Journalism School of Education and Social Policy Feinberg School of Medicine Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Pritzker School of Law The Graduate School School of Professional Studies
Research	Argonne–Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center Infrastructure Technology Institute
Campus	Buildings Residences Block Museum Dearborn Observatory Deering Library The Lakefill Lindheimer Astrophysical Research Center Norris Center Technological Institute Prentice Women's Hospital Qatar Theatre & Interpretation Center The Rock University Hall University Library
Athletics	Northwestern Wildcats Big Ten Football Men's Basketball Women's Basketball Baseball NUMB Field Hockey Women's Lacrosse Softball Patten Gymnasium Rocky Miller Park Ryan Field Land of Lincoln Trophy Welsh-Ryan Arena Willie the Wildcat
Media	The Daily Northwestern North by Northwestern Northwestern University Law Review Northwestern University Press TriQuarterly WNUR Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology
Traditions	History Dance Marathon Dillo Day The Waa-Mu Show Dolphin Show Go U Northwestern
People	Alumni Faculty Presidents John Evans
Founded: 1851 Students: 20,955 Endowment: 9.648 billion

Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Old Patten Gymnasium (1910–1940) Patten Gymnasium (1940–1952) Welsh-Ryan Arena (1952–present) Allstate Arena (2017–18)
Culture & lore	History "Go U Northwestern" Willie the Wildcat
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championship in bold

Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball
Venues	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1975–present) Beardsley Gym (2017–18)
Culture & lore	History "Go U Northwestern" Willie the Wildcat
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18

Basketball arenas of the Big Ten Conference

State Farm Center (Illinois)
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (Indiana)
Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa)
Xfinity Center (Maryland)
Crisler Center (Michigan)
Breslin Student Events Center (Michigan State)
Williams Arena (Minnesota)
Pinnacle Bank Arena (Nebraska)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (Northwestern)
Allstate Arena (Northwestern men, temporary)
Beardsley Gym (Northwestern women, temporary)
Value City Arena (Ohio State)
Bryce Jordan Center (Penn State)
Mackey Arena (Purdue)
Louis Brown Athletic Center (Rutgers)
Kohl Center (Wisconsin)

Basketball student sections of the Big Ten Conference
Orange Krush (Illinois) Crimson Guard (Indiana) The Hawks Nest (Iowa) The Wall (Maryland) Maize Rage (Michigan) Izzone (Michigan State) The Barnyard (Minnesota) Red Zone (Nebraska) Wildside (Northwestern) Buckeye NutHouse (Ohio State) Legion Of Blue (Penn State) Paint Crew (Purdue) Riot Squad (Rutgers) Grateful Red (Wisconsin)

Coordinates: 42°4′1″N 87°41′34″W / 42.06694°N 87.69278°W / 42.06694; -87.69278

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Welsh-Ryan Arena

History

See also

References

External links