Stokely Athletic Center

Description

The Stokely Athletic Center was an on-campus arena located at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to the opening of Thompson–Boling Arena in 1987, it was home to the men's and women's basketball teams starting in 1958. In 2008, the Lady Vol volleyball team also left Stokely for Thompson–Boling Arena. It is located about a block from both the new arena and Neyland Stadium. It replaced Alumni Gymnasium, a 3,200-seat arena-auditorium built in 1931 which had hosted the SEC basketball tournament four times (1936, '37, '39, and '40).It was originally built in 1958 as the University of Tennessee Armory-Fieldhouse to accommodate larger on-campus crowds. It originally housed 7,800 people in the elongated building, with permanent seating in the west end and temporary seating lining the rest of the arena, which was also used for the ROTC, indoor track, and other events. However, by the mid-1960s the fieldhouse was already becoming obsolete for its size. A $500,000 gift from industrialist William B. Stokely was the impetus for an expansion to the final size of 12,700 in 1966, when the building was renamed for Stokely and his family. Permanent seating was installed on the other three sides, including balcony seating on the north and south sides. The arena had originally been designed to expand to 12,000 people in the original layout.Stokely was the home of many great teams, including several SEC titles. It also served as the home of the women's basketball team from midway through the 1976-77 season until the end of the 1986-87 season, which was also the year of their first NCAA women's basketball championship. They hosted the NCAA Mideast regionals in the building. Besides serving as the home of the indoor track and field team, it was the home of the women's athletics offices and served as an alternate site when the larger arena was booked for events.