Welsh-Ryan Arena
| "The Shrine", "The Litter Box" | |
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| Former names | McGaw Memorial Hall (1952–1983) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2705 Ashland Avenue Evanston, IL 60201 |
| Owner | Northwestern University |
| Operator | Northwestern University |
| Capacity | 8,117 (1983–present) 7,070 (1981–1983) 7,013 (1973–1981) 8,800 (1960–1973) 9,500 (1952–1960) |
| Surface | Hardwood |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | May 1, 1951 |
| Opened | December 6, 1952 |
| Renovated | 1983 |
| Construction cost | $1.25 million ($11.3 million in 2016 dollars) |
| Architect | Holabird & Root & Burgee |
| General contractor | R.C. Weiboldt Construction Company |
| Tenants | |
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Northwestern Wildcats (NCAA) Men's basketball (1952–present) Women's basketball (1975–present) Women's volleyball (1976–present) Wrestling (1952–present) |
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Welsh-Ryan Arena is an 8,117-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States, on the campus of Northwestern University. It is home to four Northwestern Wildcats athletic teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and wrestling. It is located inside McGaw Memorial Hall, to the north of Ryan Field.
The building opened in 1952 as a replacement for Patten Gymnasium, and was the site of the Final Four for the 1956 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. It was extensively renovated in 1983, at which time the arena inside the building was renamed Welsh-Ryan Arena. At the conclusion of the 2016–17 basketball season, plans are to renovate and upgrade the arena as part of a $110 million project scheduled to be completed by late 2018. The renovation will displace the athletic programs that use the arena for the 2017–18 season.
For years, Welsh-Ryan Arena was the smallest arena in the Big Ten Conference and the only conference facility that did not seat at least 10,000. With Rutgers University joining the conference in 2014, Welsh-Ryan became the second-smallest arena after the Louis Brown Athletic Center at Rutgers, which has a listed capacity of 8,000.
McGaw Memorial Hall was built through the generosity of Northwestern University trustee and donor Foster G. McGaw, founder of the American Hospital Supply Corporation. The building, named in memory of McGaw's father, Presbyterian minister and missionary Francis A. McGaw, to house sporting events and large-scale meetings. With a seating capacity of about 13,000, McGaw Memorial Hall was one of the three largest auditoriums in the Chicago area at the time of its construction. Designed by the architectural firm of Holabird & Root & Burgee and built of reinforced concrete, McGaw Memorial Hall contained 54,000 square feet of interior space. The lighting system, consisting of 180 mercury vapor lights, was said to simulate “pure daylight.”
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