O'Connell Center

Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Construction
"The O'Dome"

Location	250 Gale Lemerand Drive Gainesville, Florida 32611
Coordinates	29°38′58″N 82°21′04″W / 29.64944°N 82.35111°W / 29.64944; -82.35111Coordinates: 29°38′58″N 82°21′04″W / 29.64944°N 82.35111°W / 29.64944; -82.35111
Owner	University of Florida
Operator	University of Florida
Capacity	12,000 (1980–present)^[1]
Record attendance	12,633
Surface	Multi-surface
Broke ground	October 1977
Opened	December 30, 1980
Renovated	2016
Construction cost	$15,6 million ($44.9 million in 2016 dollars^[2])
Architect	Caudill Rowlett Scott^[3] Moore, May & Harrington^[4]
Structural engineer	Geiger–Berger Associates^[5]
General contractor	Dyson and Company, Inc.^[4]
Tenants
Florida Gators men's basketball Florida Gators women's basketball Florida Gators women's gymnastics Florida Gators swimming and diving Florida Gators indoor track Florida Gators women's volleyball

The interior of the O'Connell Center, the University of Florida's multi-purpose indoor sports arena. The "O'Dome" is located on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

The Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is a 12,000-seat^[1] multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The facility is named for the sixth president of the university, Stephen C. O'Connell, who served from 1967 to 1973. The facility is located on the northern side of the university's campus, between its football field, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, and its baseball field, McKethan Stadium.

Florida Gators home arena

The O'Connell Center is the home arena of several of the university's Florida Gators intercollegiate sports teams, including the men's and women's college basketball, gymnastics, swimming and diving, indoor track and volleyball teams. ESPN The Magazine nicknamed it the "House of Horrors" in 1999, a name that the sports teams began using promotionally a few years later. The student section of the stadium has been dubbed the "Rowdy Reptiles." ESPN commentator Dick Vitale, on assignment at the Florida-Kentucky game in 2006, said that the Rowdy Reptiles make the O'Dome one of the toughest places to play in college basketball.

History

The arena opened in 1980, but problems with the inflatable, Teflon-coated fabric roof required replacement with a permanent, hard shell dome on top of the structure in 1998. In 2006, the university undertook an overhaul of the four scoreboards located above the entrances to Gates 1 through 4. Instead of displaying information and advertisements, the scoreboards are now used for live instant replays of events inside the arena. The arena, which is the fourth on-campus home of the Gators, replaced the old Florida Gymnasium, nicknamed "Alligator Alley," which was the home of the Gators for the previous thirty-one seasons.

Following the men's basketball team's victory in the national title game of the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, the University Athletic Association (UAA) bought the temporary hardwood floor that had been installed in the Indianapolis RCA Dome for the Final Four. Although the national finals logos were removed by sanding, the basketball teams now play on the same lumber on which the Gators won their first basketball national championship. The UAA also bought the court used to win their second title from the Georgia Dome, and displayed it in the O'Connell Center during their championship celebration event, but sold it in pieces to raise funds for scholarships.^[6]

On December 23, 2006, a then-record crowd of 12,621 watched the fifth-ranked Gators defeat the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, 86–60. The two teams would meet again that season for the National Championship game, with the Gators, once again, emerging victorious as the first back-to-back National Champions since Duke in the early 1990s. This record was broken, however, on February 5, 2011 in a 70–68 Gator victory over the 11th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, as 12,633 attended the game.

In addition to its use as a basketball arena, the O'Connell Center also contains both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and is regularly used to host other events on campus, including career fairs, graduation ceremonies, concerts, and public speakers. Banquet capacity is 2,800, and concert capacity is 6,300 for a half-stage show, 9,300 for an end-stage show and 12,000 for a center-stage show.

In March 2016 the O'Connell Center began a renovation that will include numerous changes to its layout and design. The renovation is scheduled to be completed by December 2016.^[7]

Photo gallery

The non-student side of the O'Connell Center during the 2008 NIT Second Round. Note the video replay board in the upper left added during the 2006-2007 season.
Another angle from inside of the O'Connell Center during the 2008 NIT Second Round
Florida men's basketball championship banners hanging inside the O'Connell Center during the 2012–13 season.

References

1 2 "Stephen C. O'Connell Center". University of Florida Athletics. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
↑ "Stephen C. O'Connell Center". Structuae. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
1 2 "Consultant Hired To Check Cracks In 2 Sports Arenas". Ocala Star-Banner. October 4, 1979. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
↑ Keen, Larry (March 26, 1983). "State Plans Lawsuit Over O'Connell Center Defects". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
↑ Palm Beach Post: April 6, 2007-Floor For Sale
↑ Stephen C. O'Connell Center Renovation

External links

Official website
Stephen C. O'Connell Center In-depth history of the arena from the official Florida Gators website.
World of Stadiums page

Florida Gators

Arenas and stadiums	Alfred A. McKethan Stadium (Baseball) Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Football) Donald R. Dizney Stadium (Lacrosse) James G. Pressly Stadium (Soccer, Track and field) Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium (Softball) Mark Bostick Golf Course (Golf) Scott Linder Stadium (Tennis) Stephen C. O'Connell Center (Multipurpose)

Sports	Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's gymnastics Women's lacrosse Women's soccer Softball Swimming and diving Men's tennis Women's tennis Track and field Women's volleyball

Athletic director	Scott Stricklin

Athletic association	University Athletic Association

Current head coaches	Becky Burleigh (Women's soccer) Amanda Butler (Women's basketball) J. C. Deacon (Men's golf) Emily Glaser (Women's golf) Mike Holloway (Cross country, Track and field) Jim McElwain (Football) Amanda O'Leary (Women's lacrosse) Kevin O'Sullivan (Baseball) Jenny Rowland (Women's gymnastics) Bryan Shelton (Men's tennis) Roland Thornqvist (Women's tennis) Gregg Troy (Swimming and diving) Tim Walton (Softball) Mike White (Men's basketball) Mary Wise (Women's volleyball)

Athletes	Baseball players Men's basketball players Women's basketball players Football players Men's golfers Women's golfers Tennis players Olympians UF Athletic Hall of Fame

National championships	1968 Men's golf 1973 Men's Golf 1979 Women's swimming 1982 Women's gymnastics 1982 Women's swimming 1983 Men's swimming 1984 men's swimming 1985 Women's golf 1986 Women's golf 1992 Women's indoor track 1992 Women's tennis 1993 Men's golf 1996 Women's tennis 1996 Women's soccer 1996 Football 1998 Women's tennis 2001 Men's golf 2003 Women's tennis 2006 Men's basketball 2006 Football 2007 Men's basketball 2008 Football 2010 Men's indoor track 2010 Women's swimming 2011 Men's indoor track 2011 Women's tennis 2012 Men's indoor track 2012 Women's tennis 2012 Men's outdoor track 2013 Women's gymnastics 2013 Men's outdoor track 2014 Women's gymnastics 2014 Softball

Conference affiliations	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1912–1921) Southern Conference (1922–1932) Southeastern Conference (1933– ) American Lacrosse Conference (2011–2014) Big East Conference (2015– )

Culture and lore	Albert and Alberta Gatorade Gator Chomp The Pride of the Sunshine "The Orange and Blue" "We Are the Boys"

University of Florida Gainesville, Florida

Florida Gators men's basketball

Venues	University Gymnasium (1919–1927) New Gymasium (1927–1949) Florida Gymnasium (1949–1980) Stephen C. O'Connell Center (1980–present)

Rivalries	Florida State Kentucky

Culture & lore	Dazzlers

People	Head coaches NBA players UF Athletic Hall of Fame

Seasons	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 2016–17

NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Basketball arenas of the Southeastern Conference

Coleman Coliseum (Alabama, men's)
Foster Auditorium (Alabama, women's)
Bud Walton Arena (Arkansas)
Auburn Arena (Auburn)
O'Connell Center (Florida)
Stegeman Coliseum (Georgia)
Rupp Arena (Kentucky, men's)
Memorial Coliseum (Kentucky, women's)
Maravich Assembly Center (LSU)
Humphrey Coliseum (Mississippi State)
Mizzou Arena (Missouri)
The Pavilion at Ole Miss (Ole Miss)
Colonial Life Arena (South Carolina)
Thompson–Boling Arena (Tennessee)
Reed Arena (Texas A&M)
Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt)

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