University Arena

Collecting, Organizing, Preserving

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University Arena

Written by
Terry Gugliotta, University Archivist
Don Burge, Special Projects Editor, Public Affairs Department

Basketball has long been popular at UNM. The first team played a one-game season in 1899, losing to the Albuquerque Guards. They played in what became known as the Old Wooden Gym where the gym walls were literally the out-of-bounds markers.

In 1928, Carlisle Gym, which seated approximately 1,5000, was built. At that time, the University had 862 students. Additions doubled the seating capacity to 3,000. Carlisle Gym served well until 1956 when the student enrollment had increased to 1,598 students.

Johnson Gym, built in 1957, more than doubled the seating capacity of Carlisle Gym, but that came during time when basketball was not enjoying its best years. After sinking to an all-time low in 1961-62, the Athletic Department hired Coach Bob King. King recalled when he took the job, he thought Johnson Gym « was a really good facility and it was fairly compact. It seated 7,000 and it was a beautiful place to play. When Pete McDavid and John Dolzadelli showed me the facility, they were so proud of it. I liked it, it was excellent – except I knew that if we had a winner it wasn’t big enough. I told them that and they laughed at me. » Two years later King coached the Lobos to their first post-season tournament in UNM history. « By the second year, students were standing in line for tickets and it was sort of a mad house, but it was a great mad house, » said King who remains the winningest basketball coach in UNM history with a record of 175-89. He is credited with turning basketball into today’s winning program and his success led to The Pit.

By 1964 with basketball fans filling Johnson Gym to capacity, President Tom Popejoy knew something had to be done to accommodate the program. Meeting with Coach King, University Architect Van Dorn hooker and local architect Joe Boehning, Popejoy told them he wanted an arena that seated 15,000. Popejoy suggested pouring the concrete for the seating directly on the ground, such as had been done with the football stadium, would save a lot of money. « He also felt that since the stadium had been built for $600,000 you could build a roof over that facility for $500,000, » said Boehning. Hooker recalled, « It seemed like an impossibility, and it was, but it didn’t cost much more than that. »

Construction of University Arena began in December 1965. Popejoy wanted the arena designed so that fans could get a good view from any seat in the building. A building of that size, however, would have to have support columns for a conventional roof. Popejoy’ insistence led Hooker to a roof designed by the Behlen company. The Behlen roof is a stress skin system supported by a series of trusses. « The roof was put up first. The design of the roof is very much like the design of an erector set. Its light gauge metal…a lot of members to bold together. It was very simple to put that up without the excavation. The ground was fairly level, » said Boehning.

After the roof was finished, the arena was dug out beneath it with the floor placed 37 feet below ground level. The removal of the dirt provided another engineering problem. The earth ramp used to drive the dirt out required a steep grade, so steep that once the trucks were full they had to be pulled up on a winch.

Seats were poured directly on the ground in the forms that were moved by crane around the seating area. « The big savings is, of course, that the concrete is resting on earth. We didn’t have to build forms to support the concrete and we didn’t have to put in reinforcing steel so it would hold itself up after the forms were pulled out, » said Boehning.

Popejoy thought a 15,000-seat arena would take care of the University’s needs for a while. « The Regents had some foresight and said that we had to design it so it could be expanded. We made the roof structure about five feet higher that we normally would have so we could accommodate an expansion and in less than 10 years » the need was there, said Boehning. The original cost of The Pit was $1.4 million. « Many people do not realize it, but this facility cost about one-fifth of what other facilities of this size cost throughout the United States. People in New Mexico don’t realize what they got for so little money, relatively speaking, » said King.

In 1975 The Pit was expanded. The concourse was enlarged to allow the concession stands to be quadrupled, and a meeting room, athletic offices and mezzanine level with 2,300 new seats were added. The expansion cost $2.2 million.

To date, nearly seven million fans have attended basketball games in The Pit. Current Head Coach Dave Bliss says, « In my opinion, The Pit is the best spectator facility in the nation. » The figures speak for themselves. Since the first game in The Pit on December 1, 1966, attendance has averaged 97 percent of capacity. And average attendance at Lobo basketball games has placed UNM in the top ten in the nation every year since opening. No other university can match that.

Records in The Pit

Attendance, season : 360,988, 1986-87
Attendance, single game : 19,452, Nevada-Las Vegas, January 17, 1976
Top scorer : 1.769, Luc Longley, 1988-91
Most points, single game, individual : 50, Marvin Johnson vs. Colorado State University, March 2, 1978
Most points, single game, team : 136-99 vs. Texas-Arlington, November 23,1990