ASSEMBLY HALL (CHAMPAIGN)

'Assembly Hall' is a large dome-shaped indoor arena located in Champaign, Illinois, and is part of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Hall hosts games for the Fighting Illini men's and women's basketball teams, and doubles as a performance and event center.

Contents

Fighting Illini Basketball

Opening

Size

IHSA

Broadway Series

External links

Fighting Illini Basketball

Assembly Hall hosts home games of Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball. It also hosts Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball. It is known as a very beautiful stadium from the outside.

Opening

Assembly Hall opened on March 2, 1963 and continues to attract attention for its design and construction. Four hundred feet across, it at one time was one of only two edge-supported domes in the world. The roof is supported by 614 miles of one-quarter inch steel wire wrapped at the base of the dome under intensive pressure. The architect was Max Abramovitz, a distinguished University of Illinois alumnus.

Size

The third largest Illinois arena after the United Center in Chicago and the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Assembly Hall has nearly 16,000 permanent seats, but when portable chairs are placed on the floor for an in-the-round performance there is a potential of up to 17,200 depending on the size of the stage.

IHSA

Assembly Hall has hosted a variety of Illinois High School Association events. It has been the home of the state individual wrestling tournament since 1967. From 1963 to 1995, Assembly Hall played host to the state finals of the boys' basketball tournament. From 1978 to 1990, it also hosted the IHSA girls' basketball tournament.

Broadway Series

Assembly Hall is also the venue for the annual News-Gazette Broadway Series, which features popular musical such as Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, RENT, and Fiddler on the Roof.

External links

★ Official site

★ Gallery of (8) Assembly Hall images taken under a cover of snow, 12/26/2004

★ History
Illinois Fighting Illini