Chicoine Events Center open house showcases new facility Monday

Although the newly-constructed Chicoine Events Center is open in time for the basketball season, Armstrong will still serve as a practice area for players, Athletic Director J.R. Smith said.

The Chicoine Events Center Open House Monday allowed students and community members to watch the men’s and women’s basketball teams practice, and tour the new gymnasium.

The new gym can seat 1,750 people for basketball games, but can hold up to about 3,000 people for graduations, Smith said. The Dec. 12 graduation will take place in the Events Center, he said.

Although no more games or graduations will take place in Armstrong, the building will serve as a practice area for teams, but Smith thinks the building would be useful for the community. He said he and other’s will ask around for possibilities on what the community could use Armstrong for. Armstrong will also be used for camps.

For the first year the athletic department will watch the traffic going through the Events Center.

Currently, the main entrance faces the south parking lot, which faces away from campus, which Smith said was inconvenient, but he hopes that one day another entrance can be installed on the east side of the building, which faces more toward campus.

Besides watching the basketball teams practice, spectators watched a scrimmage for both teams with white versus black shirts; a 3-point shooting contest between four members from each team; and a dunk contest between three men’s basketball players.

Students present were able to enter their names into a drawing for their chance to make a half-court shot.

One male and female were chosen, and if they made the shot they received free second semester books. Neither student chosen made the half-court shot.