Stuart C. Siegel Center
Encyclopedia
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. The facility's main component is the 7,500-(expandable to 8,000) seat Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
Arena. It also served as a student recreational area until the new Cary Street Gym complex was built. It now is used purely for VCU athletics and includes a weight room, auxiliary basketball court, an aerobic studio, and a cafè. The Verizon Wireless Arena hosts Division I level NCAA inter-collegiate athletics and serves as a general-purpose assembly space for special events such as graduations, concerts, receptions, and a variety of competitions (both athletic and non athletic). It is named after Richmond businessman Stuart C. Siegel.
The "arena" opened in 1999 and cost $30.1 million to construct. Its main tenant is the VCU Rams men's basketball team who enjoy one of the nation's best home court winning percentages since moving into the facility and has received the reputation as arguably the toughest place to play in the CAA
Colonial Athletic Association
The Colonial Athletic Association is a NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose full-time members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to Georgia. Most of its members are public universities, with five in Virginia alone, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond,...
. The VCU Rams men's basketball team holds the 13th highest Home Court winning percentage in Division I basketball with a winning percentage of .8523
The "arena" has also hosted local and state high school basketball tournaments. It is also host to the annual Virginia Regional (formerly VCU/NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
) for the FIRST
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one.First or 1st may also refer to:* First , minor summit below the Schwarzhorn in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland* First , mountain in Bernese Alps in Switzerland...
robotics competition
FIRST Robotics Competition
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an international high school robotics competition organized by FIRST. Each year, teams of high school students compete to build robots weighing up to , not including battery and bumpers, that can complete a task, which changes every year...
.
Expansion
In 2011, a 3.4 million dollar face lift to the Siegel Center added luxury suites, a 120-club seat balcony, renovated offices and a new lounge, the Tommy J. West Club.External links
- Stuart C. Siegel Center
- Basketball fans pack the Siegel Center for Rams Madness
- http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=whelliston_kyle&id=2740099
- http://www.advancement.vcu.edu/spotlights/athleticfund.html