- Memorial Center
Memorial Center, popularly referred to as the "Mini-Dome", is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose
arena on the campus ofEast Tennessee State University inJohnson City, Tennessee . It currently hosts ETSU's men's and women'sbasketball teams. At one time, the facility also hosted ETSU's football team, but the school discontinued its football program at the end of the 2003 season as a cost-cutting measure. It was the host of the 2006 and 2007Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball tournaments.Dominating the campus skyline, the building was built in the early 1970s largely as an attempt to increase attendance at the university's struggling football program and to help its recruiting, but also as a large, multi-purpose campus building. The contract ran both well over budget and the allotted time, with the eventual opening occurring two football seasons later than had been planned.
Ironically, the building has had its successes but never truly put the Buccaneer football program on the map, despite being one of very few on-campus domed stadiums in the United States. The decision was made by ETSU president Dr. Paul Stanton for ETSU to drop football following the conclusion of the 2003 season.
For the 2006–2007 academic year and basketball season, the Mini-Dome's occupancy was decreased to around 6,800 due to fire code restrictions. Efforts are underway to build a true basketball arena on campus, but the Mini-Dome will likely remain intact due to the large number of offices and training facilities it contains, as well as the enormous cost of demolition.
In 2006–2007, ETSU made an attempt to bring back the football program, but it failed when the student body voted down an increase in the athletic fee that was needed to fund it. The Mini-Dome was never considered as a possible venue for the new program.
The interior of the Mini-Dome is pictured briefly in the ending moments of the film
We Are Marshall during a sequence of highlights of theMarshall University football team.
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