Gill Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor

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 ...

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Oregon, Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton Co ...

, located on the campus of

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

. Opened in December 1949,Heartwell, James C. ''The History of Oregon State College Basketball, 1901/02–1952/53.'' Corvallis, OR: Cascade Printing Co. 1953; p. 67. the arena currently lists a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 9,301 and is home to the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

' basketball,

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, volleyball, and gymnastics teams. It is named after Amory T. "Slats" Gill, the Beavers' basketball coach for 36 seasons (from 1928 to 1964), who compiled a record. The court is named for another OSU head coach,

Ralph Miller Ralph H. Miller (March 9, 1919 – May 15, 2001) was an American college basketball coach, a head coach for 38 years at three universities: Wichita (now known as Wichita State), Iowa, and Oregon State. With an overall record of , his teams had ...

, who led the basketball program from 1971 to 1989. The building also houses a

weight room Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, is exercise designed to improve physical strength. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate techniques such as bodyweight exercises (e ...

, equipment center,

locker room A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as Changing room, locker rooms, workplaces, schools, transport hubs and the like ...

s, and offices for the Oregon State University athletic department and its teams. Inside, on the south wall of Gill Coliseum is a painted

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

of many former players, including

Gary Payton Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best know ...

Brent Barry Brent Robert Barry (born December 31, 1971), also known by the nickname "Bones", is an American basketball coach, executive, broadcaster and former player. He is the assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NB ...

A. C. Green A.C. Green Jr. (born October 4, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Iron Man", he holds a National Basketball Association (NBA) record for most consecutive regular-season games played with 1,192. Green played ...

Lester Conner Lester Allen Conner (born September 17, 1959) is an American professional basketball coach and former professional basketball player, who played for numerous NBA teams. On the floor at the collegiate level the 6'4" Conner was a "swingman," playi ...

, and Steve Johnson. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

at street level is approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

History

Prior to the construction of Gill Coliseum, intercollegiate basketball games were hosted in Oregon Agricultural College's Men's Gymnasium, a 2,500 seat facility"The Coliseum," in Bert E. Rose (ed.), Washington Sideliner: Oregon State vs. Washington, November 3, 1951, vol. 5, no. 5 (Nov. 3, 1951), Seattle: Associated Students of the University of Washington Athletic News Service, 1951; p. 32. constructed in 1914.OAC's New Gym, Scene of Commencement Activities,"
''Corvallis Gazette-Times,'' vol. 6, no. 28 (June 4, 1914), pg. 1. which continues to stand as the current Langton Hall. Built at a cost of $1.8 million, the Coliseum opened in December 1949. The facility had an initial capacity of 10,000, with no seats having views obstructed by support pillars. The name "Gill Coliseum" was initially an informal and unofficial moniker in honor of the team's longtime and then-current head basketball coach

Amory "Slats" Gill Amory Tingle "Slats" Gill (May 1, 1901 – April 5, 1966) was an American college basketball coach, the head coach at Oregon State University in Corvallis for 36 seasons. As a player, Gill was twice named to the All-Pacific Coast Conference bask ...

, with Oregon State initially prohibited by the state board of higher education from naming a building after a living individual. The building also housed the Horner Museum in the basement until the museum's closure

NCAA tournament

Gill Coliseum has hosted Western region games in the men's Division I NCAA tournament 11 times (

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

). The most recent in 1983 was the West sub-regional of the 52-team tournament. It included eventual champion

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

; in their opener on Friday night, the sixth-seeded Wolfpack (20–10) was down six points to #11 Pepperdine with less than a minute to go in the first overtime, then rallied and won in double overtime. It was the late game and finished

Other features

The facility has a

sports medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

center, located on the lower level of the coliseum, that provides injury prevention and rehabilitation services. The center includes cardiovascular equipment and improved training facilities. Part of a renovation of the arena in 2009 included making Gill compliant with the

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

. The renovation also included sandblasting the exterior and applying new paint. New windows were installed on the east and west sides of the coliseum. The court has gone numerous remodels as Oregon State has updated their

branding Branding may refer to: Physical markings * Making a mark, typically by charring: ** Wood branding, permanently marking, by way of heat, typically of wood (also applied to plastic, cork, leather, etc.) ** Livestock branding, the marking of animals ...

. Prior to the 2013–14 season, the court was updated to reflect the athletic department's re-branding along with some graphics surrounding the lower seating. Construction of the Sports Performance Center (SPC) began in early 2007, and work was completed in spring 2008. The building is located between Gill Coliseum and the

Tommy Prothro James Thompson Prothro Jr. (July 20, 1920 – May 14, 1995) was an American football coach and player. He was the head coach at Oregon State University from 1955 to 1964 and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1965 to 1970, com ...

Football Complex. The SPC houses a practice facility for wrestling and offices for the weight training staff. The building is the home to over $500,000 in training equipment and a sprint track. The four-story facility includes two full-size regulation courts and basketball offices which opened

Gallery

File:Gill Coliseum exterior 1956.jpeg, The exterior of Gill Coliseum in 1956 File:Gill Coliseum entrance.JPG, The facade of Gill Coliseum photographed in May 2008 File:Gill Coliseum interior 1956.jpeg, A basketball game in Gill Coliseum, circa 1956 File:Gill Coliseum.jpg, The basketball court at Gill Coliseum in 2007

References

External links