The Stu | |
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| Location | 1200 West Broad Street Richmond, Virginia, 23284, USA |
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| Coordinates | 37°33′11″N 77°27′10″W / 37.552918°N 77.4529°W |
| Owner | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Operator | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Capacity | 7,637 |
| Surface | Hardwood |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | April 23, 1996[1] |
| Opened | May 1, 1999 |
| Construction cost | $30.1 million ($55.1 million in 2023 dollars[2]) |
| Architect | Marcellus Wright Cox & Smith |
| Structural engineer | Dunbar Milby Williams Pittman & Vaughan |
| General contractor | Poole & Kent |
| Tenants | |
| VCU Rams (NCAA) (1999–present) Richmond Rhythm (IBL) (1999–2001) | |
The Stuart C. Siegel Center is a 190,000-square-foot (18,000 m2) multi-purpose facility on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The facility's main component is the 7,637-seat (expandable to 8,000) E.J. Wade Arena. It also served as a student recreational area until 2010, when the new Cary Street Gym complex was completed. It now is used purely for VCU athletics and includes a weight room, auxiliary basketball court, and a café. The E.J. Wade Arena hosts Division I-level NCAA inter-collegiate athletics and serves as a general-purpose assembly space for special events such as graduations, concerts, receptions, and a variety of competitions (both athletic and non-athletic). It is named after Richmond businessman Stuart C. Siegel.
The complex opened in 1999 and cost $30.1 million to construct. Seven million dollars of the cost was donated by local businessman Stuart C. Siegel; the center bears his name as a result. Its main tenant is the VCU Rams men's basketball team, which enjoys one of the nation's best home-court winning percentages since moving into the facility. The court has received the reputation as arguably the toughest place to play in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The VCU Rams men's basketball team currently holds the 11th-highest home-court winning percentage in Division I basketball with a winning percentage of 85.79[3] The student section, dubbed the "Rowdy Rams" is extremely passionate. In 2012–13, the Rowdy Rams received the Naismith Student Section of the Year Award, recognizing the best student section in college basketball. Since January 2011, every home game at the Siegel Center has been sold out and the streak currently stands at 134 (as of March 8, 2019). The arena also routinely hosts local and state high school basketball tournaments, in addition to hosting the annual Virginia Regional (formerly VCU/NASA) FIRST Robotics Competition.[4]
Before the 2016–17 basketball season, the arena was renamed the E.J. Wade Arena; a construction company owned by a local family in Mechanicsville, Virginia. The deal is for $2.75 million over ten years, but the Wade family has promised a total monetary donation of $4.05 million over those ten years.[5]
- ^ White, Jeff (April 21, 1996). "VCU Center Proves Skeptics in Error; Siegel Groundbreaking Is Tuesday". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Men's Division I Home Court Records | RPIRatings.com". rpiratings.com.
- ^ "Data". my.usfirst.org. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
- ^ Freeman, Vernon Jr.; Casadonte, Lane (September 29, 2016). "VCU, Wade family announce naming rights deal for Siegel Center". WTVR.