The Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center (commonly known as the Dean Smith Center or the Dean Dome) is a multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The arena is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels men's basketball team, and temporary home to the women's team during renovations to Carmichael Auditorium. Opened in 1986, it is the fourth-largest college basketball arena in the United States.
The arena is named after former North Carolina men's basketball coach Dean Smith, who coached the team from 1961 to 1997. Smith coached the last 11.5 years of his career in the arena, making him one of the few college coaches in any sport to coach in an arena or stadium that is named for him.
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Background and early history
In the years prior to opening the Smith Center, UNC basketball played its home games in Carmichael Auditorium (now Carmichael Arena). Although Carmichael was fairly new, having opened in 1965, basketball's popularity overwhelmed the 10,180-seat facility, and "you had to know somebody who knew somebody" to get into a game. As early as 1979, talks began for a new arena. With the hope of accommodating every fan who would want to attend a game, the plans became very ambitious. Money was raised entirely from private donations, using neither university funding nor taxes. According to David Halberstam's biography of Michael Jordan, Smith did not want the arena named after him, but was persuaded by the UNC administration and the arena's backers that fundraising efforts for the facility could fail if they did not use his name. The site chosen for the arena was a wooded ravine south of the main campus, and construction began in 1982. On the first day of construction, contractors were banned from wearing Duke or N.C. State apparel on the job site.
The first game at the new arena featured the #1 Tar Heels against the #3 Duke Blue Devils on January 18, 1986. Mark Alarie of Duke scored the first basket, but Warren Martin soon followed with the first Tar Heel basket in the new arena, Kenny Smith was credited with the assist. North Carolina ended up defeating Duke 95-92.
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Architecture and renovations
The structure is notable for being a hybrid dome. A braced fabric dome forms the central area of the roof, while the surrounding area is a standard metal deck roof. The 13,000-sq-ft dome acts as a skylight during the day, and at night, it stands out with the glow of interior lighting. Structural engineering was performed by David Geiger Associates.
The seating bowl has a basic 2-level structure, with a "club ring" formed from the front rows of the upper deck. Like most arenas of its era, the Smith Center does not have luxury boxes or separate club areas. Unlike multipurpose arenas where the seats must be arranged to accommodate an ice hockey rink (e.g. Greensboro Coliseum, PNC Arena), the seat layout at the Smith Center is designed specifically for basketball. Seating rows begin right at the sides of the basketball court, and the building's octagonal shape is an extension of the court's dimensions (the rectangle's corners are truncated to form the octagon). According to architect Glenn Corley of Corley Redfoot Zack, it was a challenge to both have fans feel "close to the court" and ensure unobstructed views from all angles.
The arena originally seated 21,444. Seating adjustments brought capacity to 21,572 in 1992. Capacity rose again to 21,750 when a standing-room-only courtside area was installed for students. The largest crowd to see a game in the Dean Dome was on March 6, 2005, when 22,125 fans saw the Tar Heels win 75-73 against Duke.
Major renovations have been discussed for the arena, which is now three decades old, but reconstruction would be complex both financially and structurally.
Basketball atmosphere
The Smith Center has an excellent basketball atmosphere thanks to the very high seating capacity, strong demand for tickets, and UNC's basketball tradition. However, there have been occasional controversies over distribution of seats to various groups and the perception that the large space lacks energy and noise.
For much of its early history, the Smith Center's atmosphere was compared unfavorably to that of Carmichael and other college arenas. Florida State player Sam Cassell was famously quoted as saying that the Dean Dome "is not a Duke kind of crowd. It's more like a cheese-and-wine crowd, kind of laid back." In contrast, Carmichael Auditorium was known for its noise level; before one game, the Virginia Cavaliers couldn't hear their names announced during player introductions because of the din. Criticism was often directed at the Smith Center's season ticket arrangements. Because the Smith Center was privately funded, a large proportion of premium lower-level seats were reserved for members of UNC's athletic booster foundation, the Educational Foundation (better known as the Rams Club), leaving an inadequate number of student tickets close to the court. Over time, however, the Smith Center developed its own tradition as a basketball mecca. In 2000, a heavy snowstorm made it difficult for many season ticket holders to attend a regular-season game against Maryland, so a large number of students were allowed to sit in the lower level. Many media outlets noted the more energetic atmosphere. Citing this experience, the Rams Club funded the installation of a standing-room-only courtside section for students. After the Tar Heels defeated then top-ranked Ohio State in 2006, Buckeyes coach Thad Matta stated, "I think I've never been in a building that was as loud as that building was at times." Earlier, after the then top-ranked Connecticut Huskies were defeated by Carolina at the Dean Dome in 2004, Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said, "I don't know what they are talking about because there was no 'wine and cheese' crowd here today."
Today, there are more ways to get tickets than there were in the past. The day before a home game, the UNC ticket office will put returned tickets on sale, and UNC also has a partnership with StubHub, expanding the available market for ticket resales. In the past, almost all tickets were allocated to students and season ticket sales, with almost no conference games available for public sale.
Home court advantage
The Tar Heels have one of the most formidable home-court advantages in the country, rarely losing more than three home games in a season. One of the few times they have lost more than that was the 2009-2010 season, when they finished with a disappointing 5 home losses (16-16 overall). As of the end of the 2009-2010 season, North Carolina had a record of 282-56 (.834) at the Smith Center, an average of 11.5 wins and just 2.1 losses per year. They have gone undefeated at home five times since the arena opened (1986-1987, 1992-1993, 2004-2005, 2010-2011 and 2016-2017).
The first loss to occur at the Dean Dome happened on February 20, 1986 to a University of Maryland team led by Len Bias. Maryland won a thrilling 77-72 overtime game against the top-ranked Tar Heels.
Non-basketball uses
The arena has also held many concerts and is used by many of the graduate and professional schools, such as the UNC School of Law, for commencement ceremonies each year, as well as the same for all undergraduates receiving degrees in December of each year. It is also the graduation site for the local high schools each June.
Advertising arrangements, such as a signage deal with Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo) fund the arena.
The arena has also hosted concerts from Janet Jackson, Morrissey, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Phil Collins, Genesis, Grateful Dead, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Boyz II Men, and many others. On April 28, 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama held a rally in the arena in anticipation of the North Carolina primary. President Obama (a Senator at the time) spoke in front of 18,000 while showing support of his surroundings in a Carolina-blue tie.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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