James A. Rhodes Arena, commonly nicknamed "The JAR," is an arena in Akron, Ohio, United States on the campus of the University of Akron. It replaced the University's 3,000 seat Memorial Hall gymnasium located right next door, and is named for former Ohio governor Jim Rhodes. The arena opened in 1983 and is home to the Akron Zips men's and women's basketball teams and women's volleyball team.HistoryThe new facility was six years in the making. Some delays were encountered after the General Assembly, in 1977, appropriated $8 million for the construction of a 10,000-seat building for the 1977-79 biennium. However, by October 1978, when preliminary plans for the new complex were presented and accepted by the Ohio Board of Regents, construction costs had risen so rapidly that it required $12.5 million to complete the project. After scrapping the original design, the University decided to go ahead with plans for a scaled-down version of the building. The 125538sqft building, including an 18000sqft wood floor, was designed by architect Thomas T. K. Zung. The University Board of Trustees approved the new version in July 1981, and ground breaking occurred on March 8, 1982.The building first opened on December 3, 1983. The building site on the eastern edge of campus is located on the northeast corner of Union and Carroll streets, and once served as the home for Fire Station No. 5 and a parking lot.The JAR hosted the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament in 1986. Renovations to the arena is 2002 included a new hardwood floor, four Opto Tech LED displays screens hangs in the center of James A. Rhodes Arena, and most importantly a brand new sound system at a cost of 1.1 million dollars.
