Photo Gallery | Seating Diagram | Tickets | Video Tour
Capacity: 1,331
The Matthaei facility was built in 1965 as part of the city’s bid to bring the 1968 Olympics to Detroit. It covers 42 acres and is nearly 94,000 square feet of space. The 27,000 square foot of space can be divided into three separate well-separated units. The main gymnasium (men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball) is located in section 111.
Many additions have been made to this space including: chair-back seating on the east side; new bleacher seating on the west side; a replica parquet floor to that in the Boston Garden; graphic wall-divider acknowledging WSU athletic history; championship wall banners and a display honoring the history of basketball and its all-time male/female student-athletes. Just outside the main arena doors, is the WSU Hall of Fame.
Two hundred and fifty-five (255) honorees are recognized for contributions dating back 103 years. The hall was completed in 2001. A classroom, dance studio and the department’s academic resource center for student-athletes are also in the building.
Construction began in 1965 as part of Detroit’s bid to host the 1968 summer Olympics. The effort was spearheaded by Frederick Matthaei, a native of Detroit, who graduated from Michigan. The Matthaei houses the natatorium, three basketball courts as well as offices for both athletics and Kinesiology, classrooms, a dance studio, the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame, and two weight rooms (one for classes and one for WSU student-athletes). Parquet flooring was added in the summer of 2004 and re-done in the summer of 2014. New bleachers were installed in July 2011 following the addition of chairback seats behind both the home and visitors bench area.
