4. New Castle Fieldhouse — New Castle, Ind.
New Castle Fieldhouse can fit more spectators than some NCAA basketball venues.
Photo courtesy of WKPW FM
Two
situations make this place one of America's most unique venues. When
it's completely full the New Castle Fieldhouse is like something from
the NCAA. And when it only has a smattering of fans, it's like playing
in an airplane hangar.
Constructed for the 1959-60 school year,
the Fieldhouse was built for a big home-court advantage, according to
John Hodge, sports editor for the New Castle Courier Times. It must
work:
New Castle (Ind.) (which is dropping Chrysler from the school name this summer) is 107-37 over the past six seasons.
"Sites for the state tournament were based on capacity and New Castle was in
a regional tournament with nearby Muncie schools and Muncie had a
large fieldhouse. Every year, New Castle would go to Muncie and have to
play the Muncie teams in their gym and get beat. So New Castle said 'Let's
build one of our own.'"
According to a piece from USA Today, New
Castle Fieldhouse has the biggest capacity in America when it comes to
on-campus gymnasiums. It also has a 1/7-mile track around the top
concourse and a 6-acre parking lot. Basketball is the most popular
reason the building was constructed, but New Castle Chrysler also has a
very successful wrestling program.
Accounts online have the capacity listed as either 9,235 or 9,325, and temporary bleachers can make it even bigger.
"I'll
be honest, it's been a few years since they used the temporary
bleachers. Basketball is
not the huge draw it used to be," Hodge said. "It's still an excellent
place to
watch a game. People who come to visit, it's one of the first things
they want to see. In order to get full appreciation for it, it has to be
close to
full."
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