Assembly Hall

Assembly Hall by Kagan Tuncay.

Overview

Assembly Hall is a multi-purpose arena on the Indiana University campus. It is used for graduations, speakers, concerts, sports, and other special events. Assembly Hall is part of the IU Sports Complex and stands between Memorial Stadium and the Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse. The IU Men's Basketball and IU Women's Basketball programs tend to dominate the use of Assembly Hall and the Branch McCracken Court located within. The Big Red Pep Band plays for all home Men's games while the Crabb Band plays for the women's games.

History

Built in 1971, Assembly Hall was designed and built as a multi-purpose facility capable of hosting sporting events, concerts and even ice skating. The first basketball game was held there in December of 1971. In the mid 1990s the modular basketball floor was replaced by a permanent wood floor, making it impossible to lay down ice (note; best knowledge indicates that ice was never created and that the actual machinery was never installed even though the concrete subfloor is plumbed for freezing purposes). Pieces of the old modular floor were mounted on plaques and sold as a means of defraying the cost of upkeep and renovations to Assembly Hall.

Events

Speakers

• Bill Gates (1998)
• Barack Obama before the Indiana Democratic Primary (2008)

Concerts

• Bob Hope and Petula Clark (Fall 1971 Football Homecoming)
• Jesus Christ Superstar (Fall 1971)
• The Jackson Five and The Temptations (Spring 1972 Little 500 Concert)
• Stephen Stills and Manassas (October 19, 1972)
• Elvis Presley (June 27, 1974 and May 27, 1976)
• The Who (c.1975)
• The Eagles (c.1981) with all original members
• Brass Theatre featuring The Canadian Brass (1996)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers (c.2000)
• The Foo Fighters (c.2000)
• Bob Dylan (February 3, 1974 with The Band and October 19, 2007 with his touring band)