Racer Arena is a 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 spectato ...

Murray, Kentucky Murray is a home rule-class city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of Calloway County and the 19th-largest city in Kentucky. The city's population was 17,741 during the 2010 U.S. census, and its micropolitan area's popu ...

. It is the current home of the

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

women's

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 ...

team. Racer Arena became the largest capacity volleyball-only facility among

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

Division I schools after the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

added gymnastics to its previously volleyball-only Barnhill Arena in 2003. The 5,550-seat Racer Arena, originally known as the Fieldhouse, opened on December 11, 1954. The original construction cost of the area was $372,571.80. Prior to the construction of Racer Arena, intercollegiate basketball games had been played in the Carr Health Building since 1937. Racer Arena hosted the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cha ...

men's basketball tournament in 1983, 1988, 1990, and 1991. In 1993, the building housing Racer Arena was named Cutchin Fieldhouse, in honor of former Murray State coach and administrator

Carlisle Cutchin Carlisle Cutchin (February 11, 1885 – August 20, 1953) was an American football, baseball, and basketball coach and college athletics administrator at Murray State University—then known as Murray State Normal School, Murray State Normal School ...

. Racer Arena was known for the home-court advantage it provided to the Murray State basketball program. The density of the traditional bowl style seating area, close exterior walls, and low ceiling in relation to the seats led to very intense crowd noise. In addition, the seating area extended very close to the playing surface and team benches, which added to the hostile environment for visiting teams. With the seating area so close to the playing court, the press area was located at the top of the seating area instead of courtside. While Racer Arena's official capacity was 5,550, sellouts were common with the area and more than 6,000 fans packed the stands on numerous occasions. By the early 1970s, records indicate that the capacity was already seen as insufficient to meet the needs of demand from the campus and community for attendance at varsity basketball games. Serious discussions of the need to construct a modern area began in 1978 when Ron Greene took over the basketball program, but plans for a new arena wouldn't actually start to become a reality until the early 1990s when funding was finally approved."Budget Recommendations Exceed Revenue". ''Daily News''. March 21, 1990. p5. Racer Arena remained home to the Murray State 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 ...

teams until they moved to the venue now known as CFSB Center in 1998.

References

{{Murray State University Basketball venues in Kentucky College volleyball venues in the United States Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in Kentucky Murray State Racers men's basketball Buildings and structures in Calloway County, Kentucky 1954 establishments in Kentucky Sports venues completed in 1954