Welsh-Ryan Arena

McGaw Hall/Welsh-Ryan Arena
Construction
"The Shrine","The Quarry"

Location	2705 Ashland Avenue Evanston, IL 60201
Owner	Northwestern University
Operator	Northwestern University
Capacity	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
Construction cost	$1.25 million ($11.1 million in 2016 dollars^[2])
Architect	Holabird & Root & Burgee
General contractor	R.C. Weiboldt Construction Company^[3]
Tenants
Northwestern Wildcats (Basketball, Volleyball, Wrestling)

Welsh-Ryan Arena is an 8,117-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Northwestern University Wildcats basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams. It is located to the north of Ryan Field on the Northwestern campus.

McGaw Memorial Hall hosted the NCAA Final Four in 1956. Patten Gymnasium, formerly located on the main campus at Northwestern, hosted the first NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in 1939 and was later torn down in order to build the Technological Institute in its place, which was completed in 1942. A smaller Patten Gymnasium was built to the north of the original site, which still stands and is mostly used for student recreation, intramural sports, and club sports.

For years, Welsh-Ryan Arena was the only basketball arena in the Big Ten Conference that did not seat at least 10,000. Its capacity is more than 4,500 seats fewer than the next smallest arena in the conference, the Crisler Center at Michigan. Welsh-Ryan lost its status as the Big Ten's smallest arena in 2014 when Rutgers joined the conference. The Scarlet Knights' facility, the Louis Brown Athletic Center (colloquially known as the Rutgers Athletic Center or "RAC") has a listed capacity of 8,000.

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 from 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.

References

↑ "NU Will Begin Work Tuesday on Fieldhouse". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 29, 1951. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
↑ "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
↑ Dubin, Howard (August 15, 1952). "New McGaw Hall to Open for First Basketball Game". The Daily Northwestern (Northwestern University). Retrieved November 11, 2013.

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

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 School of Law The Graduate School School of Professional Studies

Research	Argonne/Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center Infrastructure Technology Institute Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology

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 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

Traditions	History Dance Marathon Dillo Day The Waa-Mu Show Dolphin Show Go U Northwestern

People	Alumni Faculty Presidents John Evans

Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball

Venues	Old Patten Gymnasium (1910–1940) Patten Gymnasium (1940–1952) Welsh-Ryan Arena (1952–present)

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

Helms and Premo-Porretta national championship in bold

Basketball arenas of the Big Ten Conference

State Farm Center (Illinois)
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)
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) Nittany Nation (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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