The Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium (known as the Al Lawson Center) is a 9,639-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

on the Campus of

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

. It was built in 2009 and it is home to the Florida A&M men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

basketball teams and women's volleyball team. The arena replaced

Jake Gaither Gymnasium Jake Gaither Gymnasium is a 3,365-seat multi-purpose arena in Tallahassee, Florida. It was built in 1963 and was home to the Florida A&M University Rattlers basketball team until 2008. It is named for Jake Gaither Alonzo Smith "Jake" Gaither ( ...

, which is a 3,365-seat multi-purpose

. The Al Lawson Center is the second biggest arena in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

, behind the 12,500-seat Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. The official ribbon cutting ceremony was April 8, 2009. The center is named for Congressman

Al Lawson Alfred James Lawson Jr. (born September 23, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who was the U.S. representative for Florida's 5th congressional district from 2017 to 2023. The district, which was eliminated following redistricting ...

, himself a former FAMU basketball player, who was instrumental in getting the funding for this center and other buildings on the campus of Florida A&M University during his tenure in the Florida Legislature. The Al Lawson Center is the 3rd largest arena in the

Florida Panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

, and is often used as an alternative to the much larger and older Donald L. Tucker Center. It was the Tallahassee stop of actress/singer/native Floridian

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

's Honeymoon Tour in 2015.

References

External links

Al Lawson Center - FAMUAthletics.com
{{Southwestern Athletic Conference basketball venue navbox College basketball venues in Florida College volleyball venues in the United States Sports venues in Tallahassee, Florida Florida A&M Rattlers basketball 2007 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 2009

See also

References

External links