Frank Erwin Center

History

Built to replace Gregory Gymnasium as the men's and women's basketball teams' home arena, the Special Events Center was completed in 1977 for a total cost of $34 million. The Texas men's basketball team opened the events center on November 29, 1977, with an 83–76 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners. UT undertook extensive renovations of the facility from 2001 to 2003 at a cost of $55 million, adding, among other things, new and renovated seating, new video and sound systems, new lighting, and 28 suites.

The building was named for former UT Board of Regents member Frank Erwin, who as a regent was very controversial due to his hostility towards the burgeoning on-campus, political counterculture movement of the late 1960s and was directly involved in the arrest of protesting students and the purging of what he deemed as "unpatriotic" faculty. Originally known as the Special Events Center, the facility was renamed in 1980 to honor Erwin, who died that same year.

A two-level layout (the lower arena and upper mezzanine) accommodated up to 16,540 spectators for basketball games and up to 17,900 spectators for concerts. The inner ring of the arena averaged around 20 rows deep, while the mezzanine is slightly deeper at around 24 rows. The size of the arena's inner ring was highly dependent on the event being hosted.

Replacement and demolition

In 2013, the Dell Medical Center, a $334 million teaching hospital for the university, identified the Erwin Center parking lot and the Waller Creek area directly across from the Center as being the site of Phase I of the Dell Center's construction, with the completion of following phases to require the demolition of the Erwin Center.

In 2018, the University of Texas and the Oak View Group announced that they had agreed to build a new arena for the Texas Longhorns basketball programs, at a cost of $338 million; the new facility would fill the role that had been played by the Frank Erwin Center. The new arena is the Moody Center, named after the Moody Foundation, which had donated $130 million to University of Texas athletic programs. A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Moody Arena was held on the UT campus, just south of Mike A. Myers Soccer Stadium, on December 3, 2019; the new arena was completed in 2022. The Erwin Center hosted its last ticketed event on April 2, 2022; it was a basketball game which featured the Harlem Globetrotters. The newly completed Moody Center opened on April 20, 2022. The final UT graduation ceremonies to take place at the Erwin Center were held on May 20–21, 2022; they were the Erwin Center's last scheduled events.

A year after the closure of the Erwin Center, the UT System Board of Regents unveiled plans for the structure's demolition. The announcement was made on May 1, 2023, and the demolition process began during the following November. The Erwin Center was dismantled in phases, to preserve nearby structures and to facilitate the recycling of materials. The last remaining building supports came down on May 19, 2024, officially marking the end of the Erwin Center with the land to be cleared out completely by September.

Events

Located adjacent to downtown Austin, The Erwin Center was generally accepted to be Austin's current premier venue for large public and private events. The center held many events such as concerts, professional wrestling events, bull riding and private banquets.

The arena has hosted three UFC mixed martial events: UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares in 2010, UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson in 2014, and UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Medeiros in 2018. Legendary professional boxer Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico had his debut fight there, knocking out Jason Doucet in the first round of a boxing show headlined by a fight between Mexican Jesus Chavez and American Tom Johnson, contest won by Chavez by an eighth-round knockout on February 23, 2001.

Music artists such as Taylor Swift, David Bowie, Tina Turner, Lana Del Rey, Ariana Grande, KISS, U2, Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam, Paul McCartney, Def Leppard, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Van Halen, Rush, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Prince, Guns N' Roses, Rod Stewart, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Radiohead, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and many others have performed at the arena.

The Erwin Center hosted the semifinals and finals of the University Interscholastic League boys' and girls' basketball playoffs in all five classifications until 2015, when the playoffs moved to San Antonio.

The arena also hosted both UT commencement ceremonies and various local high school graduations.

Basketball attendance record

References

References

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5. (May 8, 2013). "Dell Medical School Construction Plans Unveiled". University of Texas.
6. Daniel, Cody. (December 20, 2018). "The University of Texas, Oak View Group agree to build 'world-class' on-campus arena". [[SB Nation.
7. Maas, Jimmy. (December 20, 2018). "UT Regents Approve Arena Proposal To Replace Frank Erwin Center". [[KUT]].
8. . (November 11, 2019). ["New University of Texas Arena to be Named Moody Center"](https://arenadigest.com/2019/11/11/new-university-of-texas-arena-to-be-named-moody-center/).
9. Gates, Billy. (April 4, 2022). "Moody Center set for its grand opening, ribbon-cutting ceremony".
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