McLeod Center
 |
|
| Location | Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States |
|---|---|
| Owner | University of Northern Iowa |
| Operator | University of Northern Iowa |
| Capacity | 7,018 |
| Surface | Multi-surface |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 9, 2004 |
| Built | 2004–2006 |
| Opened | November 18, 2006 |
| Construction cost |
$26 million ($30.9 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | HLKB Architecture Crawford Architects |
| Structural engineer | Martin/Martin, Inc. |
| Services engineer | M-E Engineers, Inc. |
| General contractor | Cardinal Construction |
| Tenants | |
| UNI Panthers (NCAA DI) (2006–present) | |
The McLeod Center is a 7,018-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, currently housing the school's teams in men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball. The arena opened November 18, 2006 with a volleyball game against Bradley. The other three UNI teams made their debuts in the facility over the next three days—men's basketball versus Milwaukee on November 19, women's basketball against Iowa State on November 20, and wrestling versus Iowa on November 21.
The McLeod Center replaced the UNI-Dome as the home of the school's basketball teams and West Gymnasium as the home of the volleyball and wrestling teams (the wrestling squad moved back to the West Gym after the 2007-2008 season). The McLeod Center is located on the west end of the campus, directly south of the UNI-Dome and connected by a covered walkway that also houses an extensive athletic hall of fame.
A video board is located on the south wall with home and visiting team scoreboards on either side showing the player's game information. There are two scoreboards on the north side and ribbon boards above the concession stands on the east and west sides.
Since opening, the arena has had quite a significant positive economic impact for the university. It brings in $20–25 million annually, doubled the attendance of basketball games, and has almost 400,000 total visitors a year.
The arena also hosts commencement ceremonies throughout the year and can be used for recreation upon request.
During the 2009-2010 and 2014-2015 Men's basketball seasons, the team went undefeated at the McLeod Center. This can be attributed to the fact that during UNI basketball games, it can become notoriously noisy, especially in the rowdy student section.
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