College Park Center


College Park Center is an indoor, multi-purpose arena on The University of Texas at Arlington campus in Arlington, Texas, United States. It seats up to 7,000 spectators.
Its primary tenant is the Mavericks athletic department including the University's basketball and volleyball teams. A secondary tenant during the summer season is the WNBA's Dallas Wings. It also hosts graduation ceremonies for UT Arlington, other private trade schools, and area high schools, along with concerts and events.
The arena is part of a section of the campus known as the College Park District. Completed in 2012, the District includes a residence hall, student apartments, a welcome center, a credit union, a park called The Green at College Park, restaurants, and three parking garages.

History

Incoming UTA President James Spaniolo's first major decision with regards to athletics came in early 2005. The UTA student body had just approved a $2 an hour student fee for the resurrection of football and addition of two women's programs, golf and soccer. In January, President Spaniolo stated the University was going to pursue a new indoor arena for the University, which would replace Texas Hall for the athletic teams. The first step taken was a student vote in April 2005 that approved a $2 an hour student fee to fund the operations of the new indoor arena.
The planning continued as the location became more contentious than originally thought. There were two sites on Cooper Street that were thought to be the front runners. The City of Arlington even made an initial push for the University to build it off campus. Near the end of 2008, it was revealed the current location was in play, and that the special events arena would be part of a larger, mixed-use development. The final site selection approval from the Board of Regents came in early 2009. After approval, the physical planning for the arena and surrounding development began.
Ground breaking occurred on March 5, 2010. Along with numerous other cash gifts, in the fall of 2010, the University received $5 million for construction from Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.
The grand opening of the facility was held on February 1, 2012, with a doubleheader of UT Arlington basketball when the women and men both defeated UT San Antonio in front of a then-record crowd of 6,228.
The men's basketball team has a record of 56–21 at College Park Center while the women's team is 35-42. The volleyball team is 49–28.
In 2016, the CPC became the permanent home of the Dallas Wings.

Features

College Park Center is divided into two concourses. The lower surrounds the court/performance area while the upper section is shaped like a horseshoe. CPC features 7,000 chair-back seats with the lower bowl seating for 4,055. A hospitality suite, divisible into three private sections is above the lower sections opposite the scorers table. The center-hung scoreboard is a four-sided Daktronics 13' X 9' with LED displays while an end-hung scoreboard is an 11' X 19' Daktronics LED display. Two LED display ribbon boards circle the bottom of the balcony seating. At the scorers table are four Daktronics LED display tables linked together to display messages and advertising.
Underneath the lower concourse are state-of-the-art sports medicine and training facilities, two full-sized practice courts, weight room, and an academic support study center.

Attendance

During the 2011–12 men's basketball season, UTA averaged 821 at Texas Hall while the last four games at CPC averaged 5,079. The team has averaged around 2,000 every year since opening. The 2015/16 season set an all-time program attendance average of 2,888 people per game.
AttendanceOpponentDateResult
16,421Oklahoma^Nov 16, 2012L 59–63
26,336CSU BakersfieldMarch 22, 2017L 76–80
36,228UTSA^^Feb 1, 2012W 67–66
46,107North TexasDec 3, 2015W 90–67
55,590Georgia SouthernFeb 22, 2018W 70-49
65,390AkronMarch 20, 2017W 85-69
75,272Texas StateFeb 11, 2012W 73–53
85,033Little Rock^^^Jan 23, 2016L 62–68
95,011Little Rock^^^Feb 29, 2017L 49–58
104,837Utah StateMarch 2, 2013W 61–46

^ Denotes Homecoming game
^^ Facility grand-opening
^^^ Women's basketball game
CPC has completely sold out three times, all of them concerts. Drake held the 1st concert ever, which was not open to the public, but rather to the UTA students and faculty, with 7,000 in attendance. The other two sellouts belong to Reach Records, as both Unashamed Tour shows in 2012 and 2013 surpassed 7,000 in attendance respectively.

Accolades

The U.S. Green Building Council recognized CPC with a LEED Gold certification.
In February 2012, the center was featured in a Billboard Magazine article about ten new and renovated venues were reshaping the national touring circuit.

Events