Roberts Municipal Stadium

Also see: Sports in Evansville.

Roberts Municipal Stadium
Construction
Location	2600 East Division Street Evansville, Indiana 47711-6813
Owner	City of Evansville
Operator	SMG
Capacity	12,732
Broke ground	March 18, 1955 (1955-03-18)
Opened	October 28, 1956 (1956-10-28)
Renovated	1980, 1990
Closed	October 29, 2011 (2011-10-29)
Demolished	January 2013 (2013-01)
Construction cost	$2 million $1.2 million (1980 renovations) $16.2 million (1990 renovations)
Architect	Robert Legeman
Tenants
Evansville Purple Aces (NCAA) (1956-2011) Evansville BlueCats (NIFL/UIF) (2003-07) Evansville Thunder (CBA) (1984-86)

Roberts Municipal Stadium was a multi-purpose arena in Evansville, Indiana for sports, public events, and concerts. The arena was built in 1956. It seated up to 12,732 spectators and featured four locker rooms and a press room. The building was demolished in 2013.

The arena received a $16 million upgrade in 1990. In 2007 the city of Evansville hired a professional consultant to examine whether the stadium should be renovated or replaced with a new downtown arena.^[1] In December 2008, the Evansville city council approved plans to construct the new arena, which opened in the fall of 2011 as the Ford Center.^[2]

It was co-managed with Mesker Amphitheatre, The Centre, and Victory Theatre.

Sporting events

The sports arena seated 12,500 for basketball. It was the home of the University of Evansville's Purple Aces basketball program from its opening in 1956 until the Aces moved downtown into the new Ford Center in 2011.

From 1957 to 1977, Roberts Stadium served as the host site for the NCAA College Division (now referred to as Division II) Men's Basketball National Championship.^[3] It again hosted the "Elite 8" in 2002. In addition, it regularly hosted a variety of other sporting events, most notably the Great Lakes Valley Conference (NCAA Division II) men's and women's basketball tournaments in early March of every year. It also hosted the 1980 and 1983 Midwestern City Conference (now Horizon League) men's basketball conference tournament. It also hosted multiple IHSAA regional and semistate basketball games in the single-class tournament.

Defunct professional teams

From 1984 to 1986, Roberts Stadium was home to the Evansville Thunder of the Continental Basketball Association, who were coached in 1984 by Utah Jazz Coach, and University of Evansville alumnus Jerry Sloan.

From 2003 to 2007 Roberts was also home to the Evansville BlueCats of the National Indoor Football League from 2003 to 2005 and the United Indoor Football league from 2005 to 2007.

References

↑ "Arena Study". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
↑ "City Council OKs arena plans". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
↑ "Roberts Stadium". Evansville Athletics. Retrieved 2008-11-29.

External links

City of Evansville

Annual festivals

Evansville Freedom Festival Germania Männerchor Volksfest West Side Nut Club Fall Festival Vanderburgh County 4H Fair Frog Follies ShrinersFest Jazz & Wine Festival

Arenas and venues

Alhambra Theatorium Bosse Field Old National Events Plaza Ford Center Goebel Soccer Complex Mesker Amphitheatre Swonder Ice Arena Metro Sports Center Victory Theatre Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Corporate headquarters and major employers

Accuride AK Steel Atlas Van Lines Berry Plastics Mead Johnson Old National Bank Shoe Carnival Springleaf T.J. Maxx Toyota Vectren

Education

Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation Roman Catholic Diocese of Evansville Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Ivy Tech Community College University of Evansville University of Southern Indiana ITT Technical Institute Harrison College Oakland City University Willard Library

Neighborhoods / Districts

Bayard Park Culver Downtown Haynies Corner Jacobsville Lamasco Lincolnshire Historic District Riverside Historic District Washington Avenue Historic District

Attractions

Angel Mounds Children's Museum of Evansville Evansville Museum Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra Ford Center LST 325 Museum Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden Reitz Home Museum Old National Events Plaza Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse Tropicana Casino Wesselman Woods Burdette Park

Malls & other commerce

Downtown Eastland Mall Washington Square Mall

Sports

Evansville Purple Aces USI Screaming Eagles Evansville Otters Evansville Thunderbolts Evansville Enforcers Demolition City Roller Derby Evansville Crush Southern Indiana Athletic Conference Refrigerator Bowl Hoosier Nationals Thunder on the Ohio Rollergirls of Southern Indiana

Transportation

Evansville Regional Airport Metropolitan Evansville Transit System I-64 I-69 (Former 164) I-69 US 41 Lloyd Expressway SR 57 SR 62 SR 65 SR 66 SR 662 University Parkway Veterans Memorial Parkway

Healthcare & emergency

Deaconess Hospital Deaconess Gateway and Women's Hospital St. Mary's Hospital and Medical Center Southwestern Indiana Mental Health System The Welborn System IU Evansville Medical Center

Regional

Center Township German Township Knight Township Perry Township Pigeon Township Vanderburgh County Evansville Metropolitan Area Southwestern Indiana Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky tri-state area Area codes 812 and 930

Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball

Venues	Roberts Municipal Stadium (1956–2011) Ford Center (2011–present)

Culture & lore	History 1977 team plane crash Aces Brass

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

NCAA national championships in bold

Coordinates: 37°58′45″N 87°30′57″W / 37.97903°N 87.515926°W / 37.97903; -87.515926

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