The Walter Pyramid, formerly known as The Long Beach Pyramid, is a 4,000-seat, indoor

multi-purpose arena A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

on the campus of

Long Beach State University California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universitie ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporated ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

History

The Walter Pyramid was officially opened on November 30, 1994, when it hosted a

Long Beach State men's basketball The Long Beach State Beach men's basketball team represents California State University, Long Beach in Long Beach, California. The school's team competes in the Big West Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tou ...

game against the

Detroit Titans The Detroit Mercy Titans (formerly known as the Detroit Titans) are the athletic teams of University of Detroit Mercy. The University is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The school primarily competes i ...

, which aired live on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. A standing-room only crowd of 5,021 saw Long Beach come away victorious with a final score of 71-64. The Walter Pyramid was designed by Don Gibbs and built by the Nielson Construction Company of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. The building of Walter Pyramid cost approximately $22 million. Each side of the

perimeter A perimeter is a closed path that encompasses, surrounds, or outlines either a two dimensional shape or a one-dimensional length. The perimeter of a circle or an ellipse is called its circumference. Calculating the perimeter has several pr ...

of Walter Pyramid measures , making it a mathematically true pyramid. It is one of only four true pyramid-style buildings in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, the others being the Summum Pyramid in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, Luxor Las Vegas in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, and

Pyramid Arena The Memphis Pyramid, formerly known as the Great American Pyramid and the Pyramid Arena, is a building located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, United States, at the banks of the Mississippi River. Built in 1991 as a 20,142-seat arena, the facili ...

in Memphis,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. The Walter Pyramid rises 18 stories above the Long Beach skyline and its exterior is uniformly clad in sheets of dark-blue corrugated

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It h ...

Name change

On March 5, 2005, Long Beach State officially renamed The Pyramid to Walter Pyramid in honor of Mike and Arline Walter. The Walters were given this recognition for a $2.1 million donation given to the university. In addition to being the vice-president of Levi Strauss & Co., Mike Walter was also a dean for Long Beach State's College of Business Administration from 1993 to 2000.

Tenants

University athletics

The Walter Pyramid is currently home to the Long Beach State Beach men's basketball and

Long Beach State Beach women's basketball The Long Beach State Beach women's basketball team represents California State University, Long Beach in Long Beach, California. The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference. History Since beginning in 1962, the 49ers have an ...

programs, as well as the

Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball The Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team is the NCAA Division I men's volleyball team for the Long Beach State University. Alan Knipe is the current head coach of 18 years, though he's been with the program since 2001. Program record a ...

and Long Beach State Beach women's volleyball programs. All LBSU teams playing home games in the Walter Pyramid are nicknamed “the Beach”. The teams were previously known as the 49ers but that nickname was recently dropped. Prior to the construction of the Walter Pyramid on campus, the men's basketball team played some of their games in the

Long Beach Arena The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is a convention center located in Long Beach, California. Built on the former site of the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the venue is composed of the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach A ...

in downtown

, and at the on-campus University Gymnasium later renamed

Gold Mine Gold Mine may refer to: * Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album ''ADHD'' See also * ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith * Gold mining *G ...

, which has just 1,900 seats. In addition to being the home for Long Beach State athletics, the Walter Pyramid as hosted several

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 ...

-sponsored events including numerous women’s volleyball NCAA matches, the 2001 and 2003 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championships and the 2003 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Regionals.

Non-university athletics

The Southern California Summer Pro League used the Walter Pyramid during the summer months from 1995 to 2007. The league showcased current and prospective NBA basketball players, including recent draft picks, current NBA players working on their skills and conditioning, and international professionals hoping to become NBA players. The league went on hiatus for the 2008 season and announced its intention to move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

for 2009. The Walter Pyramid was home to the Long Beach Stingrays, a women's professional basketball team of the now-defunct American Basketball League for a time in 1997 and 1998. The Walter Pyramid hosts the

World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship (commonly known as the Worlds or Mundials) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held once every year by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered to be the most important and ...

s or, in

Portuguese language Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau ...

, ''

Mundials The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship (commonly known as the Worlds or Mundials) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held once every year by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered to be the most important and ...

''.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority share ...

presented the show Strong Style Evolved on March 25, 2018, which sold out within minutes. The

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

played a 2019 WNBA Playoffs semifinals game at the Walter Pyramid.

References

External links

Walter Pyramid
{{Big West Conference basketball venue navbox American Basketball Association (2000–present) venues College basketball venues in the United States College volleyball venues in the United States Basketball venues in California Indoor arenas in California Long Beach State Beach basketball Buildings and structures in Long Beach, California Sports venues completed in 1994 Pyramids in the United States Sports venues in Long Beach, California Skyscrapers in Long Beach, California Skyscrapers in California Volleyball venues in California 1994 establishments in California