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facilities:the_mecca

MECCA History

Although the MECCA seats as many as 12,700 people, the offical capacity for Marquette basketball games was 10,938. The MECCA also offers 41,000 feet of floor space and is part of a larger downtown campus that includes the Milwaukee Theatre and Midwest Airlines Center.

The Arena was part of the MECCA Complex (The Milwaukee Exposition Convention Center and Arena) 1974-1995.

MECCA opened April 9, 1950 and was built at a cost of $4,500,000. It was the first arena designed to accommodate the needs of broadcast television. It was folded into the MECCA complex when it opened in 1974. It is also known for its former unique basketball court painted by Robert Indiana in 1978, with large rainbow 'M's taking up both half-courts representing Milwaukee.

It was home to the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA from 1968-1988, along with the International Hockey League Milwaukee Admirals, and hosted the 1977 NBA All-Star Game before an audience of 10,938. The venue was also home to Marquette University's men's basketball team for 38 seasons, drawing 4,724,309 Warrior fans to 521 games (413-108). – These teams all moved to the Bradley Center upon the newer arena's opening in 1988.

Building Names

  • Milwaukee Arena (1968-1974)
  • MECCA Arena (1974-1995)
  • Milwaukee Arena (aka Wisconsin Center Arena) (1995-2000)
  • US Cellular Arena (2000-present)
facilities/the_mecca.txt · Last modified: 2020/12/07 16:49 (external edit)