Gallery: (1-16-2023) Baptist Health Arena
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• Alumni Coliseum (Paul S. McBrayer Court at Baptist Health Arena) has been the home arena for Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball since the 1963-64 season. The women's basketball team began playing here in 1976. The volleyball team has played in the coliseum since 1991. The arena seats 6,500 fans for athletic endeavors and up to 8,000 for other events.
• The coliseum features a wooden laminated cross-arched roof spanning 309 feet and providing an unobstructed view of events held in the main auditorium. A total of 616,276 board feet of lumber form the 170 beams and roof, which arches gracefully 81 feet above the floor level. The wood is southern pine finished in its natural beauty.
• Before the start of the 2006-07 season, new scoreboards were added above the north and south bleachers and new shot clocks were installed above the basketball rims.
• In 2013, a state-of-the-art Daktronics HD videoboard was added on the wall on the east end of the arena.
• In the summer of 2014 a new playing surface was installed. It was the first time the court had been replaced since Alumni Coliseum was completed in 1963. The new court is a Connor Floor and is made of grade one maple. Besides the fresh look and design, the floor offers much more resiliency, less wear and tear on knees, and a greater traction and “spring” for student-athletes.
• Other recent improvements include new lighting and new basketball goals. Less than 10 schools nationwide had the new indoor LED lighting technology when it was installed. The new system provides much stronger lighting on the playing surface, increasing the strength by more than 100 foot-candles. The new basketball goals are used in the Olympic Games and by many professional and top collegiate teams.
