Mitchell Center
Encyclopedia
Mitchell Center is a 10,041-seat multi-purpose arena
on the campus of the University of South Alabama
in Mobile, Alabama
. It was completed in 1998 and is the home court for University of South Alabama Jaguars basketball teams. The Center is named for the Mitchell family, local real estate developers who have given over US$35 million to various University causes (both the Mitchell Cancer Institute and the Mitchell College of Business are named for them), including $1 million for construction of the Center.
The venue can seat 3,500 for theatrical presentations, 7,354 for front-of-arena concerts, 8,777 for the circus
and auto racing
, and 10,800 for full-arena concerts.
The arena contains 18080 square feet (1,680 m²) of arena floor space; 6918 square feet (643 m²) of meeting rooms space and an additional 4230 square feet (393 m²) in the Globe area, where the Waterman Globe is located. The arena's eight-sided Daktronics center-hung scoreboard features four video screens. There are 16 ticket windows, a 14,000-watt sound system, a 60-by-40-foot portable stage; four dressing and two team locker rooms, a training room, a production office and in-house catering. The arena measures 63'8" for floor to the roof. There is parking for 4,450 cars within a ten-minute walk of the arena, including 450 at the arena itself.
The Mitchell Center hosted the 2001 and 2008 Sun Belt Conference
men’s basketball tournaments.
The Mitchell Center hosted its first ever NBA
basketball game between the New Orleans Hornets and Miami Heat on October 23, 2008.
In the spring of 2011, the Mitchell Center was home to the Mobile Bay Tarpons of the Southern Indoor Football League
.
On the May 8, 2007, edition of "Lunch with Lee" on WNSP
in Mobile, recently hired head basketball coach Ronnie Arrow called the Mitchell Center "the best arena in the state of Alabama."
) from 1948 through 1973 and was a major attraction in downtown Mobile. The Rand McNally
Map Company painted the original aluminum exterior of the 12 feet (4 m) diameter globe, which depicts countries as they were in the 1940s. The reconstructed globe rotates once every three minutes and 50 seconds. The globe's axis is identical to the Earth's.
The Waterman Globe was part of a total display of painted murals until it was cut into 300 pieces of scrap. Former USA President Frederick P. Whiddon
saved the globe and stored it for more than 20 years, anticipating its restoration. USA engineering technician Lanny McCormick completed the arduous task of reconstructing the globe in 1996. Local artist Joe Wilson worked as a modern-day Michelangelo
, lying on his back at the globe's new home in the Mitchell Center to restore the paint.
The railing around the globe is original but augmented by new vertical brass safety bars. The globe’s steel base was recycled from a retired USA campus soccer goal. The globe made its second Mobile debut at the May 1999 USA Spring Commencement, which marked the opening of the Mitchell Center.
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...
on the campus of the University of South Alabama
University of South Alabama
The University of South Alabama is a public, doctoral-level university in Mobile, Alabama, USA. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. No other areas of the state were willing to support such a...
in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
. It was completed in 1998 and is the home court for University of South Alabama Jaguars basketball teams. The Center is named for the Mitchell family, local real estate developers who have given over US$35 million to various University causes (both the Mitchell Cancer Institute and the Mitchell College of Business are named for them), including $1 million for construction of the Center.
The venue can seat 3,500 for theatrical presentations, 7,354 for front-of-arena concerts, 8,777 for the circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
and auto racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
, and 10,800 for full-arena concerts.
The arena contains 18080 square feet (1,680 m²) of arena floor space; 6918 square feet (643 m²) of meeting rooms space and an additional 4230 square feet (393 m²) in the Globe area, where the Waterman Globe is located. The arena's eight-sided Daktronics center-hung scoreboard features four video screens. There are 16 ticket windows, a 14,000-watt sound system, a 60-by-40-foot portable stage; four dressing and two team locker rooms, a training room, a production office and in-house catering. The arena measures 63'8" for floor to the roof. There is parking for 4,450 cars within a ten-minute walk of the arena, including 450 at the arena itself.
The Mitchell Center hosted the 2001 and 2008 Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...
men’s basketball tournaments.
The Mitchell Center hosted its first ever NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
basketball game between the New Orleans Hornets and Miami Heat on October 23, 2008.
In the spring of 2011, the Mitchell Center was home to the Mobile Bay Tarpons of the Southern Indoor Football League
Southern Indoor Football League
The Southern Indoor Football League was an indoor football league based in the Southern and Eastern United States. The most recent incarnation of the league was a consolidation of an earlier league of the same name that was formed by Thom Hager along with Dan Blum, Robert Winfrey and Dan Ryan in...
.
On the May 8, 2007, edition of "Lunch with Lee" on WNSP
WNSP
WNSP is a radio station licensed to serve Bay Minette, Alabama, USA. The station, founded in 1964, is currently owned by Dot Com Plus, LLC...
in Mobile, recently hired head basketball coach Ronnie Arrow called the Mitchell Center "the best arena in the state of Alabama."
Waterman globe
The Mitchell Center's north entrance is graced by the Waterman globe which originally rested in the Waterman Building (now the Wachovia BuildingWachovia Building (Mobile)
The Wachovia Building, previously known as the Waterman Building and the Southtrust Bank Building, is a high-rise in the U.S. city of Mobile, Alabama. Completed in 1947, the building rises and 16 stories...
) from 1948 through 1973 and was a major attraction in downtown Mobile. The Rand McNally
Rand McNally
Rand McNally is an American publisher of maps, atlases, textbooks, and globes for travel, reference, commercial, and educational uses. It also provides online consumer street maps and directions, as well as commercial transportation routing software and mileage data...
Map Company painted the original aluminum exterior of the 12 feet (4 m) diameter globe, which depicts countries as they were in the 1940s. The reconstructed globe rotates once every three minutes and 50 seconds. The globe's axis is identical to the Earth's.
The Waterman Globe was part of a total display of painted murals until it was cut into 300 pieces of scrap. Former USA President Frederick P. Whiddon
Frederick Palmer Whiddon
Frederick Palmer Whiddon was the founder and long-time president of the University of South Alabama, the first four-year state-supported university in Mobile, Alabama....
saved the globe and stored it for more than 20 years, anticipating its restoration. USA engineering technician Lanny McCormick completed the arduous task of reconstructing the globe in 1996. Local artist Joe Wilson worked as a modern-day Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, lying on his back at the globe's new home in the Mitchell Center to restore the paint.
The railing around the globe is original but augmented by new vertical brass safety bars. The globe’s steel base was recycled from a retired USA campus soccer goal. The globe made its second Mobile debut at the May 1999 USA Spring Commencement, which marked the opening of the Mitchell Center.