Ahearn Field House
| "The Old Barn" | |
 |
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| Location | 1700 College Heights Road Manhattan, Kansas 66506 |
|---|---|
| Owner | Kansas State University |
| Operator | Kansas State University |
| Capacity | 5,000 (volleyball) 12,220 (basketball, 1987) |
| Record attendance | 5,287 (volleyball, 2003) 14,028 (basketball, 1951) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1949 |
| Opened | December 9, 1950 |
| Construction cost | $2 million |
| Tenants | |
| Kansas State Wildcats | |
Ahearn Field House is one of the athletic buildings on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It is currently home to the K-State volleyball team and indoor track and field squad, and houses facilities for the Department of Kinesiology and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
The facility was named in honor of Michael F. Ahearn. Over the years 'Mike' Ahearn served Kansas State University in a variety of roles that included coach, professor, Head of the Department of Physical Education, and Director of Athletics. Kansas State's men's basketball team posted an all-time record in Ahearn Field House of 369-96 (.793), including six undefeated seasons.
By the late 1940s, it was obvious that Kansas State's 30-year-old gym, Nichols Hall, was inadequate for the increasingly popular basketball team. After the Wildcats advanced to the Final Four in 1948, it was not unheard of for students to climb into the rafters in order to watch the game. Not only was this situation uncomfortable, it was also unsafe. In the late-1940s, the Kansas State Legislature approved the construction of a new and much larger basketball facility, designed to overcome the capacity and safety shortcomings of Nichols Hall.
Opened in 1950 with a seating capacity of more than 14,000, Ahearn Field House was one of the first and largest purpose-built basketball arenas in the country. It was the largest arena in the state of Kansas until the construction of Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas in 1955. Changing fire codes over the years forced changes to the seating arrangements that eventually reduced seating capacity to 11,700 for the 1987-1988 season. This was the final season in which K-State basketball games were held in Ahearn.
Ahearn Field House hosted the men's NCAA basketball tournament regional finals six times (1953, 1955, 1960, 1962, 1965, and 1969). It also hosted the national championship match for the 1974 AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament, as well as a quarterfinal game in the 1976 NIT.
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