The Liacouras Center

Philadelphia

The Liacouras Center

1776 N. Broad St., 19121 Philadelphia

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The Liacouras Center is a 10,200-seat multi-purpose venue which opened in 1997. Its main purpose is hosting Temple Owls men's basketball home games, and some women's basketball games. The arena is located on North Broad Street, and is part of a $107 million, four-building complex along North Broad Street on the Temple University campus in North Philadelphia. As of the end of the 2016-17 season, the Owls have amassed a 206-69 record at the Liacouras Center. The Liacouras Center is the largest indoor, public assembly venue in Philadelphia, north of City Hall.

History

During the 1980s, Hall of Fame Temple basketball coach John Chaney hoped to raise the profile of the men's basketball program through aggressively scheduling top-tier, out of conference opponents. Some programs, however, scoffed at the idea of playing at Temple's existing arena: the 3,900-seat McGonigle Hall. Temple's President at the time, Peter J. Liacouras, supported the idea of a larger basketball facility in hopes of building Temple's national presence. Temple considered several locations for the arena. The Liacouras Center's site was purchased in 1988 for $7.3 million. The state of Pennsylvania awarded Temple $31.1 million in October 1992, after which there was some back-and-forth bickering between Chaney and then-City Council president John Street.

The project was approved in 1995, with a January 25, 1996 groundbreaking. Two nationally recognized architectural firms designed the Liacouras Center: Vitetta Group of Philadelphia, and Thompson Ventulett Stainback & Associates of Atlanta. The 340000sqft venue opened in the 1997-98 season. The first game played was a 76-61 Temple win over #18 Fresno State.

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