James A. Rhodes Arena
Encyclopedia
James A. Rhodes Arena, commonly nicknamed "The JAR," is a basketball
arena
in Akron, Ohio
on the campus of the University of Akron
named for former Ohio
governor Jim Rhodes
. The arena opened in 1983 and is home to the Akron Zips
men's and women's basketball teams and women's volleyball team. The new facility was six years in the making. Some delays were encountered after the General Assembly, in 1977, appropriated $8 million for the construction of a 10,000-seat building for the 1977-79 biennium. However, by October 1978, when preliminary plans for the new complex were presented and accepted by the Ohio Board of Regents, construction costs had risen so rapidly that it required $12.5 million to complete the project. After scrapping the original design, the University decided to go ahead with plans for a scaled-down version of the building. The 125538 square feet (11,662.9 m²) building, including an 18000 square feet (1,672.3 m²) wood floor, was designed by architect Thomas T. K. Zung. The University Board of Trustees approved the new version in July 1981, and ground breaking occurred on March 8, 1982. The building first opened on December 3, 1983 replacing the University's 3,000 seat Memorial Hall gymnasium located right next door. The building site on the eastern edge of campus is located on the northeast corner of Union and Carroll streets, and once served as the home for Fire Station No. 5 and a parking lot.
The JAR hosted the Ohio Valley Conference
men's basketball tournament in 1986. Renovations to the arena is 2002 included a new hardwood floor, four Opto Tech LED
displays screens hangs in the center of James A. Rhodes Arena, and most importantly a brand new sound system at cost 1.1 million dollars.
Under the guidance of the University Athletic audio engineers, the JAR received a major upgrade in the fan atmosphere experience. At construction, the JAR employed a distributed horn powered PA system with very narrow dispersion angles, coupled with near-proximity coaxial speakers
for the upper deck. Needless to say, this nature lead to several hot zones and many fans wondering what the announcer said. All that changed in 2005 with the installation of a fully zoned system employing EVH model horn loaded boxes coupled with 6 TX Series subwoofers in the South catwalk for that tipoff "Thunderstruck" kick. A separate zone was even included for the floor for the UA Dance Team and Basketball team warmups. Precision series EV combined amplifiers and DSPs tune the system to near perfection in every seat. A Midas Venice series mixing console along with several channels of external dynamic channel processing, as well as enhanced hyperspheric modulation accelerators, handle all audio inputs. The system has reached a maximum decibel level of 115 dB
during games, and is rated up to 130 dB. The facility currently seats 5,500 people. The arena has two floors. In addition to the court, the first level features locker rooms, a sports medicine and training facility, a ticket office, a fan team shop and meeting rooms. The arena hosted St. Vincent - St. Mary High School
during LeBron James
' tenure at the school. His games would typically outdraw Zips' men's games.
The decision to name the arena after former governor Rhodes was highly controversial as he ordered the Ohio National Guard
to nearby Kent State University
prior to the May 4, 1970 shootings
. Because of anticipated protests, the dedication of the building was not publicly announced in advance.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
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 Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
on the campus of the University of Akron
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a coeducational public research university located in Akron, Ohio, United States. The university is part of the University System of Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a small college affiliated with the Universalist Church. In 1913 ownership was transferred to the City of...
named for former Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
governor Jim Rhodes
Jim Rhodes
James Allen Rhodes was an American Republican politician from Ohio, and one of only five US state governors to serve four four-year terms in office. As governor in 1970, he decided to send National Guard troops onto the Kent State University campus, resulting in the shooting of students on May 4...
. The arena opened in 1983 and is home to the Akron Zips
Akron Zips
One of the unique nicknames in all of intercollegiate athletics belongs to The University of Akron. Originally Zippers, athletic director Kenneth Cochrane officially shortened the nickname to the Zips in 1950. Twenty-five years earlier a campus-wide contest had been conducted to choose a nickname...
men's and women's basketball teams and women's volleyball team. The new facility was six years in the making. Some delays were encountered after the General Assembly, in 1977, appropriated $8 million for the construction of a 10,000-seat building for the 1977-79 biennium. However, by October 1978, when preliminary plans for the new complex were presented and accepted by the Ohio Board of Regents, construction costs had risen so rapidly that it required $12.5 million to complete the project. After scrapping the original design, the University decided to go ahead with plans for a scaled-down version of the building. The 125538 square feet (11,662.9 m²) building, including an 18000 square feet (1,672.3 m²) wood floor, was designed by architect Thomas T. K. Zung. The University Board of Trustees approved the new version in July 1981, and ground breaking occurred on March 8, 1982. The building first opened on December 3, 1983 replacing the University's 3,000 seat Memorial Hall gymnasium located right next door. The building site on the eastern edge of campus is located on the northeast corner of Union and Carroll streets, and once served as the home for Fire Station No. 5 and a parking lot.
The JAR hosted the Ohio Valley Conference
Ohio Valley Conference
The Ohio Valley Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the midwestern and southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Championship Subdivision , the lower of two levels of Division I...
men's basketball tournament in 1986. Renovations to the arena is 2002 included a new hardwood floor, four Opto Tech LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
displays screens hangs in the center of James A. Rhodes Arena, and most importantly a brand new sound system at cost 1.1 million dollars.
Under the guidance of the University Athletic audio engineers, the JAR received a major upgrade in the fan atmosphere experience. At construction, the JAR employed a distributed horn powered PA system with very narrow dispersion angles, coupled with near-proximity coaxial speakers
Coaxial speakers
A coaxial loudspeaker is a loudspeaker system in which the individual driver units radiate sound from the same point or axis. Two general types exist: one is a compact design using two or three speaker drivers, usually in car audio, and the other is a two-way high-power design for professional...
for the upper deck. Needless to say, this nature lead to several hot zones and many fans wondering what the announcer said. All that changed in 2005 with the installation of a fully zoned system employing EVH model horn loaded boxes coupled with 6 TX Series subwoofers in the South catwalk for that tipoff "Thunderstruck" kick. A separate zone was even included for the floor for the UA Dance Team and Basketball team warmups. Precision series EV combined amplifiers and DSPs tune the system to near perfection in every seat. A Midas Venice series mixing console along with several channels of external dynamic channel processing, as well as enhanced hyperspheric modulation accelerators, handle all audio inputs. The system has reached a maximum decibel level of 115 dB
Decibel
The decibel is a logarithmic unit that indicates the ratio of a physical quantity relative to a specified or implied reference level. A ratio in decibels is ten times the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio of two power quantities...
during games, and is rated up to 130 dB. The facility currently seats 5,500 people. The arena has two floors. In addition to the court, the first level features locker rooms, a sports medicine and training facility, a ticket office, a fan team shop and meeting rooms. The arena hosted St. Vincent - St. Mary High School
St. Vincent - St. Mary High School
St. Vincent – St. Mary High School is a private, coed, Catholic high school located in Akron, Ohio. The school is commonly abbreviated SVSM, St. V-M, ASVSM, or STVM. However, the school's official abbreviation is STVM...
during LeBron James
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a...
' tenure at the school. His games would typically outdraw Zips' men's games.
The decision to name the arena after former governor Rhodes was highly controversial as he ordered the Ohio National Guard
Ohio Army National Guard
The Ohio Army National Guard is a part of the United States National Guard and a reserve component of the United States Army. It is also a component of the organized militia of the state of Ohio, which also includes the Ohio Naval Militia, the Ohio Military Reserve and the Ohio Air National Guard...
to nearby Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
prior to the May 4, 1970 shootings
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...
. Because of anticipated protests, the dedication of the building was not publicly announced in advance.