The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center (commonly known as Frank Erwin Center or UT Erwin Center and originally Special Events Center) is an inactive multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

located on the campus of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. It is also sometimes referred to as "The Drum" or "The Superdrum", owing to its round, drum-like appearance from outside (not to be confused with Big Bertha, the large bass drum used by the University of Texas marching band). The multi-purpose facility hosted entertainment events and was the home court for the Texas Longhorns men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

programs until 2022, when it was replaced by the Moody Center. The Erwin Center is located at the southeastern corner of the UT central campus and is bounded on the east by

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History

Built to replace

Gregory Gymnasium Gregory Gymnasium is the 4,000-seat current home of the University of Texas Longhorn women's volleyball team, and former home of the Longhorn basketball and swimming teams. The basketball teams moved out in 1977 to the Erwin Center. It also serve ...

as the men's and women's basketball teams' home arena, the Special Events Center was completed in 1977 for a total cost of $34 million. The Texas men's basketball team opened the events center on November 29, 1977, with an 83–76 victory over the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

. UT undertook extensive renovations of the facility from 2001 to 2003 at a cost of $55 million, adding, among other things, new and renovated seating, new video and sound systems, new lighting, and 28 suites. The building is named for former UT Board of Regents member Frank Erwin, who as a regent was very controversial due to his hostility towards the burgeoning on-campus, political counterculture movement of the late 1960s and was directly involved in the arrest of protesting students and the purging of what he deemed as "unpatriotic" faculty. Originally known as the Special Events Center, the facility was renamed in 1980 to honor Erwin, who died that same year. A two-level layout (the lower ''arena'' and upper ''mezzanine'') accommodates up to 16,540 spectators for basketball games and up to 17,900 spectators for concerts. The inner ring of the arena averages around 20 rows deep, while the mezzanine is slightly deeper at around 24 rows. The size of the arena's inner ring is highly dependent on the event being hosted.

Replacement

The Dell Medical Center, a $334 million teaching hospital for the university, has identified the parking lot and Waller Creek area directly across from the Frank Erwin Center as Phase I of construction, with later phases calling for the demolition of the Frank Erwin Center. In 2018, it was announced that Oak View Group and the University of Texas had agreed to build a new $338 million arena for the Texas Longhorns basketball programs to replace the Frank Erwin Center. The new arena is named the Moody Center after the Moody Foundation, who donated $130 million to Texas Athletics. A groundbreaking ceremony took place just south of Mike A. Myers Soccer Stadium on December 3, 2019, and completed in 2022. Moody Center opened on April 20, 2022, with plans to close the Frank Erwin Center in May 2022. UT's final graduation ceremonies at the Erwin Center took place on May 20–21, 2022 and was the last scheduled event to be held there.

Events

Located adjacent to downtown Austin, The Erwin Center is generally accepted to be Austin's current premier venue for large public and private events. The center holds many events such as concerts, professional wrestling events,

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and private banquets. The arena has hosted three

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mixed martial events: UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares in 2010, UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson in 2014, and UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Medeiros in 2018. Music artists such as

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, Ariana Grande,

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, U2, Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam,

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, George Strait, Garth Brooks,

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, Rush, AC/DC, Pink Floyd,

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, Guns N' Roses, Rod Stewart, Madonna,

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, Radiohead,

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and many others have performed at the arena. The Erwin Center hosted the semifinals and finals of the

University Interscholastic League The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, musical, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest organi ...

boys' and girls' basketball playoffs in all five classifications until 2015, when the playoffs moved to San Antonio. The arena also hosts both UT commencement ceremonies and various local high school graduations.

Basketball attendance record

References

External links