altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Next Saturday marks the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Assembly Hall on Monday March 4, 1963. The Illini prevailed that evening against Northwestern, 79-73, and shared the Big Ten title with Ohio State after beating Iowa in the Hall the following Saturday. The team made it to the Elite 8 that season, losing to Loyola by 15 (sound familiar?!)
U of I architecture alumnus Max Abramovitz designed the building. At 400 feet in diameter, it was the largest dome in the world until the Astrodome was built in 1965. It remained the largest edge-supported, reinforced-concrete dome until the Kingdome was built in 1976 and, with the demise of that stadium in 2000, reclaimed the title and holds it to this day.
The photo below is from the initial game in the Hall v. the ‘Cats. I love that beautiful old scoreboard and lol that it’s hanging that close to the ceiling. It was still there in ’84 when I became a student, along with rounded glass backboards in use nowhere else in the BT.
I have some other old photos that I’ll post, too, and encourage everyone (especially those who played there) to share their memories of the AH over the years. We’re truly blessed to call this global architectural masterpiece our basketball home.
U of I architecture alumnus Max Abramovitz designed the building. At 400 feet in diameter, it was the largest dome in the world until the Astrodome was built in 1965. It remained the largest edge-supported, reinforced-concrete dome until the Kingdome was built in 1976 and, with the demise of that stadium in 2000, reclaimed the title and holds it to this day.
The photo below is from the initial game in the Hall v. the ‘Cats. I love that beautiful old scoreboard and lol that it’s hanging that close to the ceiling. It was still there in ’84 when I became a student, along with rounded glass backboards in use nowhere else in the BT.
I have some other old photos that I’ll post, too, and encourage everyone (especially those who played there) to share their memories of the AH over the years. We’re truly blessed to call this global architectural masterpiece our basketball home.