Barnhill Arena is a 10,000-seat multipurpose

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 ...

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

, now used primarily for

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. The arena opened in 1954 and was home to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

Razorbacks (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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams before they moved to

Bud Walton Arena Bud Walton Arena (also known as the Basketball Palace of Mid-America) is the home to the Arkansas Razorbacks basketball, men's and Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball, women's basketball teams of the University of Arkansas, known as the Arka ...

in 1993. Prior to that, the arena had been considered to be one of the toughest to play in, first in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

and then in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

, especially when

Nolan Richardson Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is an American former basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tourn ...

and

Eddie Sutton Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball, Oklahoma State) and was a h ...

were coaches; it earned the nickname "Barnhell Arena" because of its rabid student section. After the opening of the new arena, the university converted Barnhill Arena into a volleyball and gymnastics-specific facility, and the Ladybacks' volleyball and

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

teams have played there ever since. The arena is also occasionally used for special events, such as concerts, graduations, and speakers. It was originally built as the Arkansas Fieldhouse and renamed in 1973 in honor of John Barnhill, the school's former head football coach and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

. The arena is just southeast of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Barnhill housed the locker room for Arkansas'

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

until a new complex was built in the north end zone. The architects of the building were Haralson & Mott of Fort Smith.''Engineering News-Record'' (July 9, 1953): 80.

References

Arkansas Razorbacks basketball venues College gymnastics venues in the United States College volleyball venues in the United States Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Sports venues in Arkansas Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics University and college buildings completed in 1954 1954 establishments in Arkansas Sports venues completed in 1954 {{Arkansas-stadium-stub