Lloyd Noble Center

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = The Lloyd Noble Center
nickname = "(The LNC)"|

caption = The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team warms up before a game against the Texas Longhorns
location = 2900 Jenkins Ave
Norman, OK 73072
broke_ground =
opened = December 1, 1975
closed =
demolished =
owner = University of Oklahoma
operator = University of Oklahoma
surface =
construction_cost =
architect =
former_names =
tenants = Oklahoma Sooners (Men's & Women's Basketball)
seating_capacity = 11,528

The Lloyd Noble Center is an 11,528-seat multi-purpose arena in Norman, Oklahoma, some convert|19|mi|km south of downtown Oklahoma City. The arena opened in 1975. It is home to the University of Oklahoma Sooners men's and women's basketball teams.

History

Before the construction of the facility, the teams played in the much smaller OU Field House, located on campus near Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. With the success of Sooner basketball in the 1970s and star forward Alvan Adams, demand became sufficient to upgrade to the modern and spacious Lloyd Noble Center, named after an alumnus and former member of the OU Board of Regents who gave OU's first ever $1 million gift to finance the center. The Sooners frequently sold out the arena during the Billy Tubbs era, with All-American forward Wayman Tisdale leading the high-scoring team to several Big Eight Conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. This led to the popular colloquialism around Norman that Lloyd Noble Center is "the house that Alvan built and Wayman filled."

In January 2006, after the NBA's New Orleans Hornets decided to move two games from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge because of low attendance, the Ford Center in Oklahoma City was unavailable for one of the games against the Sacramento Kings, so it was moved to the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Fieldhouse is still home to the university's volleyball and wrestling teams, and hosts a number of other on-campus gatherings. It is rather unknown these days on campus that the Fieldhouse once witnessed concerts by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley in the 1960s and 1970s.

Concert Venue

As a concert venue, the Lloyd Noble Center can hold between 2,848 and 4,516 in a theater set-up, 8,519 for end-stage concerts, and 11,205 for center-stage concerts. The arena contains convert|18000|sqft|m2 of arena floor space as well as convert|22534|sqft|m2 of concourse space, allowing for trade shows to be held at the arena. The arena stands only convert|51|ft|m tall since the majority of the structure is under ground (including the entire lower arena level), and contains a 40-by-60-foot portable stage and a state-of-the-art scoreboard and video system. There are 12 concession stands at the concourse.

External links

* [http://www.ou.edu/lnc/ Lloyd Noble Center Official site]
* [http://www.soonersports.com/facilities/lloyd-noble-center.html Lloyd Noble Center at Soonersports.com]