The Joyce Center, formerly the Athletic & Convocation Center, is a 9,149-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 ...

Notre Dame, Indiana Notre Dame is a census-designated place and unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's Co ...

just north of

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. The arena opened its doors in 1968. It is home to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

Fighting Irish

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 ...

and volleyball teams. The main arena, Phillip J. Purcell Pavilion, is located in the southern portion of the facility. The northern portion housed a

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

rink until October 2011. It is also home to the Castellan Family Fencing Center and Rolfs Aquatic Center (added on in 1985) in the rear of the building.

Location

It is located across a pedestrian arcade from

Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame Stadium is an outdoor college football, football stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, the home field of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Fighting Irish football team. It was built in 1930 under the guidance of Knute Ro ...

, and the center's two domes could easily be seen rising above the stadium's east side prior to its expansion.

History

The building, designed by architects at Ellerbe Architects of Saint Paul, Minnesota, was built in 29 months, and opened the first week of December 1968 as the Athletic & Convocation Center. It was renamed in 1987 to honor the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Notre Dame's executive vice president from 1952 to 1987. Prior to the building of the Joyce Center, the basketball team played in the

Notre Dame Fieldhouse Notre Dame Fieldhouse was a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Notre Dame, Indiana. It opened in 1898, and was demolished in 1983. A monument marks the site. History It was home to the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team. ...

, which opened in 1900. The Fighting Irish Hockey team played in the North dome from 1968 to 2011. The team moved to the

Compton Family Ice Arena The Compton Family Ice Arena is a 5,022-seat, two-rink ice facility in Notre Dame, Indiana on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The arena saw its first game on October 21, 2011. The ice arena replaced the 2,857-seat rink in the north d ...

in October 2011. The last hockey game at the Joyce Center was played on October 15, 2011 (Ohio State beat Notre Dame 4–3).

Renovation

In the fall of 2006, the university announced major renovation plans for the Joyce Center. In 2009, the South dome, which houses the basketball arena, underwent a $24.6 million renovation and was renamed Purcell Pavilion, after Philip J. Purcell, a Notre Dame alumnus, trustee, and chair of the athletic affairs committee. Architectural firm HNTB studied the center after the university began considering renovations in 2001 and worked on the project. Phase 1 of the project was completed in October 2009, with its first event, the women's volleyball "Dig Pink" match for Breast Cancer between Notre Dame and Seton Hall, taking place on Halloween. The first basketball game took place the following night as the Fighting Irish men's squad faced Lewis University in an exhibition contest. Due to the renovation, the capacity of Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center dropped from 11,418 to 9,149. A new video scoreboard over center court was installed prior to the 2010–2011 basketball season. Concerts at the Joyce Center include:

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1987,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

in 1987,

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

in 1988,

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

in 1989, Chicago's

Richard Marx Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Marx's first number one success as a songwriter came in 1984 with " What About Me?", which was recorded by Kenny Rogers ...

in 1990,

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

in 1992,

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

in 1995,

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead guitar), R ...

in 1996,

Brian Setzer Orchestra The Brian Setzer Orchestra (sometimes known by its initials BSO) is a swing and jump blues band formed in 1992 by Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer.Partridge, Kenneth (2021)Hell of a Hat The Rise of ’90s Ska and Swing Penn State University Pr ...

in 1999,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

in 1999,

Matchbox Twenty Matchbox Twenty (stylized as Matchbox 20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, rhythm guit ...

in 2000, U2 with

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

in 2001, Bloomington's

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...

with

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

in 2006, Chicago's

OK Go OK Go is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar, bass, backing vocalist, v ...

with

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, record producer and Music education, music educator. Born and raised in Chicago, he gained mainstream recognition for his gue ...

in 2007, and

The Chainsmokers The Chainsmokers are an American electronic DJ and production duo consisting of Alex Pall and Drew Taggart. They started out by releasing remixes of songs by indie artists. The electronic dance music, EDM-Pop music, pop duo achieved a breakth ...

in 2018.

Major upsets

Notre Dame has a rich tradition of ending winning streaks at the Joyce Center, with victories over eventual national champions, defending NCAA titlists, and number-one-ranked teams. Some of the notable streaks the Irish have ended include: *In 1971, the Irish gave

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

its only loss of the season. *3 years later, after UCLA had won 88 straight games since the 1971 ND victory, the Irish again beat the Bruins and ended UCLA's NCAA record 88-game winning streak. *In 1977, the Irish upset previously undefeated #1-ranked

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

. *In 1980, the Irish upset previously undefeated #1-ranked DePaul. *In 1987, the Irish upset #1-ranked

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

60–58. *In 1991, the Irish upset #2-ranked UCLA. *In 2005, the Irish ended

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

's Big East record 20-game winning streak to start the season. *In 2012, the Irish upset previously undefeated #1-ranked

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, 67–58. *In 2013, the Irish beat the Louisville Cardinals 104–101 in a 5-overtime game. Later that season, the Cardinals went on to win the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship. *On February 6, 2016, Notre Dame defeated #1-ranked North Carolina 80–76 after trailing by 15 points. *In 2021, Notre Dame upset the #11 Florida State Seminoles in the Joyce Center 83–73, which ended their 28-game losing streak against Top 25 opponents. *In 2021, the Irish upset then-#10 Kentucky Wildcats 66–62.

References

External links