The Earle A. & Virginia H. Chiles Center is a 4,852-seat multi-purpose arena

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

 in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, USA. The arena opened in 1984. It is home to the University of Portland

University of Portland

The University of Portland is a private Roman Catholic university located in Portland, Oregon. It is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1901, UP has a student body of about 3,600 students...

 Pilots

Portland Pilots

The Portland Pilots were a Class-B minor league baseball team in Portland, Maine out of the New England League. Created in 1946 as the Portland Gulls, the Pilots lasted until 1949, when the New England League collapsed...

 men's and women's basketball teams as well as the women's volleyball team. It hosted the West Coast Conference

West Coast Conference

The West Coast Conference is an NCAA collegiate athletics conference consisting of nine member schools across the states of California, Oregon, Utah and Washington....

 men's basketball tournament in 1992 and 2007.

The arena is also used as for other athletic tournaments as well as for concerts and other special events such as high school graduations. It contains 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²) of arena floor space.

History

Construction on the center began in 1983 and the new facility opened in 1984. In 2006, the school completed $1 million in upgrades to the women's locker rooms, followed by renovations of the weight room in 2008. In 2010, the scoreboard over center court was replaced with a new center-hung video system. In addition to the video system, two new basketball scoreboards were installed along with three-sided shot clocks. The school plans to continue renovations, as well as some expansion, with a $2 million project on upgrading the men's locker rooms, as well as expansions and the construction of a study center for student athletes.

External links

• University of Portland Athletic Facilities