Montagne Center

Montagne Center
Location 4400 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway
Beaumont, Texas 77710
Coordinates 30°2′38″N 94°4′15″W / 30.04389°N 94.07083°W / 30.04389; -94.07083Coordinates: 30°2′38″N 94°4′15″W / 30.04389°N 94.07083°W / 30.04389; -94.07083
Owner Lamar University
Operator Lamar University
Executive suites Red Room: 20 to 150
Morgan Suites: 7 Suites with 16 seats each (face football field)
Capacity Maximum: 10,746
Basketball: 10,080
(Permanent seating: 8,102 and telescopic chairback seating system: 1,978)
Record attendance Men's Game: 10,010
(on January 10, 1987 vs McNeese State Cowboys)[1]
Women's Game: 9,143
(on March 17, 1991 vs
LSU Lady Tigers)[2][3]
Surface Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground June 20, 1983 (1983-06-20)
Built June 20, 1983 (1983-06-20) through November 1984 (1984-11)[4]
Opened November 24, 1984 (1984-11-24)
Renovated 2005, 2008 (Major repairs due to Hurricanes Rita and Ike)[5][6]
Expanded 1985 (1985)
Construction cost $12.5 million
($29.4 million in 2017 dollars[7])
Architect LaBiche Architectural Group
Structural engineer Walter P Moore[8]
Tenants
Lamar Cardinals men's basketball
Lamar Cardinals women's basketball
Website
montagneeventcenter.com

The Montagne Center, built in 1984, is a 10,746-seat multi-purpose arena in Beaumont, Texas designed especially for the basketball program. The Montagne Center is currently home to the Lamar University Cardinals and Lady Cardinals basketball teams. The arena was previously the home of the Lady Cardinals volleyball team until renovations to McDonald Gym were completed in 2006-07.

Features

After one year of operation, the arena's seating capacity was expanded from 8,000 in basketball configuration to its current seating capacity of 10,080.[9] The 10,080 capacity is made up of 8,102 permanent seats and a telescopic chairback seating system totaling 1,978 seats. All seats in the arena are chairbacked and all are cushioned with the exception of folding back seats in the four topmost rows of seats. Including floor seating, the arena has a maximum capacity of 10,746 in event configuration.

The arena floor can host sporting events including basketball, volleyball, wrestling, boxing and martial arts tournaments. With stadium and floor seating, the Montagne Center can be configured for hosting concert events. The arena floor (which can be expanded to 165' x121') can also be transformed into hosting graduation ceremonies, proms, dances, banquets and conferences.

The Morgan Suites and Red Room are both sports suites housed in the Montagne. The Morgan suites face the football field and are priced at $25,000 a year. Each of the seven suites has seating for 16. The Red Room is a university reception center for alumni and reunion events. The Red Room is unique because one side has windows facing the North end of the Football field while the other side faces the basketball court.

The building includes the following in addition to the main arena area:

  • Offices
  • Two perimeter courts
  • VIP/Red room - 1,400 sq ft of event space which can accommodate 20 to 150 guests - located on the fifth-floor level; overlooks the arena as well as the adjacent Provost Umphrey Stadium Includes wet bar and restrooms.
  • Cardinal Club Room - 3,442 sq ft meeting room with adjacent kitchen can accommodate 20 to 200 guests
  • Morgan Suites - 7 suites with 16 seats each. The Morgan Suites face Provost Umphrey Stadium.
  • Player's lounge
  • Study area

Annual events

Other Notable Features

On February 19, 2011 during halftime Billy Tubbs was honored by Lamar with the naming of the Montagne Center basketball court in his and his wife's honor. The court was named the "Billy & Pat Tubbs Court".[10][11] During the same halftime ceremony Lamar also honored Billy's 78-79 Cardinal squad the first team in Lamar University history to advance to the NCAA tournament.

A small piece of the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament East Regional – Syracuse, New York is now part of the Montagne Center. The goals used in the Syracuse Regional were moved to and installed in the Montagne Center in April 2015.[12]

Recovery from Hurricanes Rita and Ike

The Montagne Center received significant damage from both Hurricane Rita (September 24, 2005) and Hurricane Ike (September 13, 2008). According to a November 2005 issue of the Cardinal Cadence, Lamar University's Alumni magazine, Rita severely damaged the roof leaving gaping holes. Exterior tiles around the building were blown out leaving the arena area exposed. Also, the mezzanine entrances were destroyed.[5] Hurricane Ike, striking three years later, also did significant damage to the Center. According to an October 2008 issue of the Cardinal Cadence, exterior tiles again were blown out and the roof was damaged. Additionally, glass walls gave way.[6]

Improvements

  • 2015 - The basketball court was refurbished featuring a new center court logo.[13] The basketball goals were replaced. The new goals were used in the East Regional of the 2015 NCAA Division I men's tournament at Syracuse University's Carrier Dome.[14]
  • 2016 – Four sided center hung video scoreboard, LED scorer's table, 2 auxiliary team names scoreboards, end of period lights, locker room clocks, 3 sided slim shot clocks as well as sound system upgrades[15] The four sided center hung video scoreboard has four 6mm video display panels with 10mm video display rings above and below. Each display panel is 11 feet wide and the display provides 1.3 million pixels. The scorer's table provides 30' of 10mm LED display.[16][17] According to an October 27, 2016 article in the Beaumont Enterprise, total cost of the 2016 upgrades was $1,261,000. Susan Conn McCurry provided a major donation toward the new equipment.[18]
  • 2018 – Susan Conn McCurry donated $500,000 toward men's and women's locker room renovations. The renovations were scheduled to start in March, 2018.[19]

Attendance

Source:[20]

Top 10 attendance marks

Below is a list of the Cardinals 10 best-attended games men's* home games (all at the Montagne Center).

Rk.DateOpponentAttendance
Top 10 Attendance
1January 10, 1987McNeese State10,010
2February 27, 1986McNeese State9,467
3December 16, 1985LSU9,432
4January 24, 1987Arkansas State8,992
5March 15, 1985Houston8,610
6December 27, 1995Texas8,454
7February 23, 2008Northwestern St.8,338
8January 26, 1985Louisiana Tech8,317
9March 20, 1985Chattanooga8,245
10November 26, 1985Villanova8,216

As of the 2015-16 season.
*Note: Record home attendance for a Lady Cardinals game at the Montagne Center of 9,143 was on March 17, 1991 vs the LSU Lady Tigers.[21][22]

Yearly Attendance

Below is a list of the attendance by year since the Cardinals moved into the Montagne Center.

As of the 2017-18 season.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Lamar Basketball 2011-12 Info Guide" (PDF). Lamar University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. p. 7. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  2. ↑ "FINAL 1991 DIVISION I WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STATISTICS REPORT" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  3. ↑ "LSU Women's Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". LSU Athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.beaumontcvb.com/listings/index.cfm?action=display&listingID=291&menuID=&hit=1
  5. 1 2 http://www.lamar.edu/_files/documents/news/cardinal-cadence/2005-2004-issues/LR_cadence_vol334.pdf
  6. 1 2 http://www.lamar.edu/_files/documents/news/cardinal-cadence/2009-2008-issues/LR_cadence_vol362.pdf
  7. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Arenas". Walter P Moore. Archived from the original on July 8, 2000. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  9. ↑ http://www.lamarcardinals.com/facilities/montagne-center.html
  10. ↑ Dabe, Christopher (February 19, 2011). "Lamar Men Extend Win Streak to Three". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  11. ↑ West, Bob (February 19, 2011). "Simmons, Lamar Made Great Move on Tubbs Court". The Port Arthur News. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Montagne Center Gets Upgrade". Lamar University Department of Athletics. April 22, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ Brian Sattler (October 27, 2015). "Montagne Center court gets new look". Lamar University. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Montagne Center Court Gets New Look". Lamar University Athletics. October 27, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Montagne Center Gets New Scoreboard in 2016". Lamar University Athletics. October 31, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Lamar Cardinals Upgrade the Montagne Center in 2016 with New Nevco Equipment". Nevco. April 27, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  17. ↑ Pat Murrary (October 18, 2016). "Montagne Center gets new video board". Lamar University Athletics. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  18. ↑ Danny Shapiro (October 27, 2016). "Lamar University shows off Montagne Center Upgrades". Beaumont Enterprise. Hearst Newspapers, II LLC. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  19. ↑ Danny Shapiro (November 22, 2017). "Interim Lamar AD unveils plans for facilities upgrades". Hearst Newspapers, LLC II. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  20. ↑ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/lama/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/6-3-6.pdf
  21. ↑ "FINAL 1991 DIVISION I WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STATISTICS REPORT" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  22. ↑ "LSU Women's Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". LSU Athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 "Archived Team-by-Team Final Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
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