Walter Pyramid

Walter Pyramid
Construction

Full name	Walter Pyramid
Former names	The Pyramid
Location	1250 Bellflower Boulevard Long Beach, CA 90840
Coordinates	33°47′14″N 118°6′51″W / 33.78722°N 118.11417°W / 33.78722; -118.11417Coordinates: 33°47′14″N 118°6′51″W / 33.78722°N 118.11417°W / 33.78722; -118.11417
Owner	Long Beach State University
Operator	Long Beach State University
Capacity	4,200 (With additional seating, a record attendance of 6,912 occurred on November 16, 2012 versus North Carolina)
Surface	Beechwood
Scoreboard	Yes
Broke ground	December 17, 1992^[1]
Opened	November 30, 1994
Construction cost	$22 million ($35.1 million in 2016 dollars^[2])
Architect	Don Gibbs
General contractor	Nielson Construction Company
Tenants
Long Beach State 49ers men's basketball Long Beach State 49ers women's basketball Long Beach State 49ers men's volleyball Long Beach State 49ers women's volleyball

The Walter Pyramid, formerly known as The Pyramid, is a 5,000-seat, indoor multi-purpose arena on the campus of Long Beach State University in Long Beach, California.^[3]

History

The Walter Pyramid was officially opened on November 30, 1994, when it hosted a Long Beach State 49ers men's basketball game against the Detroit Titans, which aired live on ESPN. A standing-room only crowd of 5,021 saw Long Beach come away victorious with a final score of 71-64.

External view of Walter Pyramid

The Walter Pyramid was designed by Don Gibbs and built by the Nielson Construction Company of San Diego. The building of Walter Pyramid cost approximately $22 million dollars. Each side of the perimeter of Walter Pyramid measures 345 feet (105 m), making it a mathematically true pyramid. It is one of only three true pyramid-style buildings in the United States, the others being Luxor Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada and Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Walter Pyramid rises 18 stories above the Long Beach skyline and its exterior is uniformly clad in sheets of dark-blue corrugated aluminum.

Name change

On March 5, 2005, Long Beach State officially renamed The Pyramid to Walter Pyramid in honor of Dr. Mike and Arline Walter. The Walters were given this recognition for a $2.1 million donation given to the university.^[4] In addition to being the vice-president of Levi Strauss & Co., Dr. Mike Walter was also a dean for Long Beach State's College of Business Administration from 1993 to 2000.^[5]

Tenants

University athletics

The Walter Pyramid is currently home to the Long Beach State 49ers men's basketball and Long Beach State 49ers women's basketball programs, as well as the Long Beach State 49ers men's volleyball and Long Beach State 49ers women's volleyball programs. Prior to the construction of the Walter Pyramid on campus, the men's basketball team played some of their games in the Long Beach Arena in downtown Long Beach, and at the on-campus University Gymnasium later renamed Gold Mine, which has just 1,900 seats.

In addition to being the home for Long Beach State 49ers athletics, the Walter Pyramid as hosted several NCAA-sponsored events including numerous women’s volleyball NCAA matches, the 2001 and 2003 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championships and the 2003 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Regionals.

Non-university athletics

The Southern California Summer Pro League used the Walter Pyramid during the summer months from 1995 to 2007. The league showcased current and prospective NBA basketball players, including recent draft picks, current NBA players working on their skills and conditioning, and international professionals hoping to become NBA players. The league went on hiatus for the 2008 season and announced its intention to move to Los Angeles for 2009.^[6]

The Walter Pyramid was also home to the Long Beach Stingrays, a women's professional basketball team of the now-defunct American Basketball League for a time in 1997 and 1998.

The Walter Pyramid also hosts the World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships or, in Portuguese language, Mundiais.

The Walter Pyramid is also home to the Los Angeles Reign of the National Pro Grid League.

A panoramic view of Walter Pyramid on the campus of California State University, Long Beach

References

↑ McLeod, Paul (December 17, 1992). "Sports Center Groundbreaking Set". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
↑ "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
↑ "The Mike and Arlene Walter Pyramid". Long Beach State University. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
↑ "Pyramid Named for Mike and Arline Walter". The Beach Review. Fall 2005. Retrieved 9 October 2009. External link in |work= (help)
↑ "Dr. Mike Walter". Port of Long Beach. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
↑ "THE SUMMER PRO LEAGUE TO MOVE TO LOS ANGELES". Southern California Summer Pro League. Retrieved 9 October 2009.

External links

Walter Pyramid

California State University, Long Beach

Academics	Engineering Music

Facilities	Blair Field Carpenter Performing Arts Center Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden Gold Mine Puvunga Southern California Marine Institute Veterans Memorial Stadium Walter Pyramid

Athletics	Baseball Men's basketball Football Volleyball

Media	KKJZ

Organizations	Phi Beta Delta

People	List of California State University, Long Beach people

Long Beach State 49ers men's basketball

Venues	Gold Mine (late 1950s–1994) Walter Pyramid (1994–present)

People	Head coaches NBA players

Seasons	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

Basketball arenas in the Big West Conference

Mott Athletic Center (Cal Poly) Titan Gym (Cal State Fullerton) Matadome (Cal State Northridge) Stan Sheriff Center (Hawaiʻi) Walter Pyramid (Long Beach State) UC Davis Pavilion (UC Davis) Bren Events Center, Crawford Hall (UC Irvine) UC Riverside Student Recreation Center (UC Riverside) UCSB Events Center (UC Santa Barbara)

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