Jenison Fieldhouse

Jenison Fieldhouse
Rear of Jenison Fieldhouse.
Location	248 Jenison Field House, East Lansing, 48824
Opened	1940
Owner	Michigan State University
Operator	Michigan State University
Capacity	6,000 (Current) 10,004 (previous)
Tenants
Michigan State Spartans (Wrestling, track and field)

Jenison Fieldhouse is a 10,004 seat, later reduced to 6,000 seat multi-purpose arena in East Lansing, Michigan. The arena opened in 1940 and was named for alumnus Frederick Cowles Jenison, whose estate, along with PWAP funds, funded the building. It was home to the Michigan State University Spartans basketball team before they moved to Breslin Center in the fall of 1989.

The venue is most famous for its 1978-1979 National Championship Basketball team, which included Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and was coached by Jud Heathcote. It also hosted the 1963 NCAA basketball tournament Mideast Regionals. A plaque outside the arena commemorates one of the 1963 regional semifinals; "Game of Change", in which a segregated Mississippi State team played and lost to the eventual national champion, an integrated Loyola team. The losing Maroons (now known as Bulldogs) had defied a court order prohibiting them from leaving the state to play an integrated team. The game is now seen as a watershed moment in the intersection of civil rights and sports.

You can see the plaque here: https://twitter.com/LoyolaRamblers/status/277537277150887936.

The three-story building's architecture is late art deco, with a monumental entrance that includes three reliefs of a baseball player, basketball player, and football player above the three main doors.

Jenison Fieldhouse is currently where the women's volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling, and indoor track and field teams compete. It also contains Athletic Department offices.

2008

2008