The Walter Pyramid
(formerly the Long Beach Pyramid
), in Long Beach, California, is the on-campus basketball and volleyball arena for the NCAA college basketball and college volleyball teams of California State University, Long Beach. Finished in 1994, it is a large, pyramid-shaped building, uniformly clad in sheets of dark-blue corrugated aluminum, and seats 5,000 spectators.
The Southern California Summer Pro League uses the Pyramid during July. The league is a showcase for current and prospective NBA basketball players, including recent draft picks, current NBA players working on their skills and conditioning, and international professionals hoping to become NBA players.
|
WALTER PYRAMID TICKETS
|
History
Before the Walter Pyramid was built on campus, the Long Beach State basketball team played some of their games in the
Long Beach Sports Arena in downtown
Long Beach, and some on-campus at the
Gold Mine, which has just 1,900 seats.
The arena opened for its first 49er basketball game on
November 30,
1994. In that game, which was televised on
ESPN, the 49ers defeated the
University of Detroit Mercy, with a final score of 71-64 before a
standing room only crowd of 5,021.
The Pyramid was home to the
Long Beach Stingrays, a women's professional basketball team of the now-defunct
American Basketball League for a time in 1997-98.
The Walter Pyramid was designed by
Don Gibbs and built by the
Nielson Construction of
San Diego. The building of The Walter Pyramid cost approximately $22 million
USD. It is named for Mike and Arline Walter, supporters of California State University, Long Beach.
[1]
Facts about The Walter Pyramid
Each side of the
perimeter of The Walter Pyramid measures 345
feet, making it a mathematically
true pyramid. There is a and a
conference center located in The Walter Pyramid.
References
- CSULB News and Events