Mullins Center

Mullins Center
Mullins Center in 2013
Mullins Center is located in Massachusetts
Mullins Center
Mullins Center
Location in Massachusetts
Mullins Center is located in the United States
Mullins Center
Mullins Center
Location in the United States
Location200 Commonwealth Avenue
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
Coordinates42°23′21.77″N 72°32′0.38″W / 42.3893806°N 72.5334389°W / 42.3893806; -72.5334389
OwnerUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
OperatorGlobal Spectrum
Capacity9,493 (basketball)
8,387 (hockey)
Surface200 × 95 ft (hockey)
Construction
Broke groundJanuary 1991
OpenedFebruary 4, 1993
Construction cost$51 million
($108 million in 2023 dollars[1])
ArchitectCambridge Seven Associates, Inc.
Structural engineerLim Consultants, Inc.[2]
General contractorSuffolk Construction Company
Tenants
UMass Minutemen basketball (men's and women's)
UMass Men's ice hockey

The William D. Mullins Memorial Center, also known as the Mullins Center, is a 9,493-seat multi-purpose arena (10,500 for 360 concerts), located on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Mullins Center is the home of UMass Minutemen men's basketball, women's basketball, and men's ice hockey. In addition, the venue hosts numerous concerts, family shows, theater shows, and commencements annually. Located adjacent to the Mullins Center is the Mullins Community Ice Rink, which is open for public skating and racquetball, while also serving as the home rink for the UMass women's ice hockey team.

In 1985, William D. Mullins, a state representative from Ludlow, suggested that the university needed a multipurpose arena and convocation center to help expand the athletic program and assist in the university's growth. He died in 1986, but the state went ahead with the building of the complex, naming it for him. It replaced the Curry Hicks Cage, the 1930s-era basketball gymnasium, as home of the Minutemen basketball teams. In addition, it allowed the hockey team, which had been downgraded to club status since the late 1970s, to be elevated to Division I status.

Mullins Center Interior

The Mullins Center is managed by Spectra, which manages over 70 different event arenas throughout the United States.

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Athletic Facilities". Lim Consultants, Inc. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2015.