Why is williams arena called the barn

I love universities that are part of a major city. It just adds an element of excitement. Built in , and named for former football coach, Dr. The food available at Williams Arena is better than most, but not anything that is going to blow you away. Traditional favorites like soft pretzels, nachos, and hot dogs can be found. I visited Williams Arena on a cold day, and arrived before they opened the gates.

However, I was happy to find that I was able to wait indoors before they opened the main entry. I became quick friends with Rod, a season ticket holder and Minnesota alum who was interested in my trip after I assured him that I was good luck for his beloved Gophers I had just a week or so before witnessed them break a long losing streak in Madison, defeating Wisconsin.

Seeing as how Minnesota had not beaten Illinois in 12 years, he was willing to take on a little good luck from a stranger. It adds to the feeling of closeness and makes it a great place to see a game. I arrived at my hotel at the Seven Corners of Minneapolis: about a mile and half of walking to get to Williams Arena.

I decided to make my way around the corners by stopping at several bars for food and drink. I began at the Town Hall Brewery and ordered their beer sampler and an order of fried green beans. No alcohol sales are allowed, due to Williams Arenas on-campus location. The arena looks very much like it did back when it was built in The outer concourse features a great timeline outlining the history of the facility, culminating with a special exhibit that includes a portion of the original floor of the arena.

The outer concourse has cinder-block walls and concrete floors, and it will become immediately clear when you enter the inner arena how Williams Arena earned its more popular moniker.

The arched roof with the beams showing definitely gives the feeling of a barn-like structure. The excitement generated here comes from the cheer squad, the University pep band and a very enthusiastic student section alias the Barnyard.

The views from the seats of the court are great unless you are unfortunate enough to sit behind one of the support beams holding up the second level of stands. The second level of the arena is definitely old school. To reach this area, you need to take a winding staircase, and remember to stop for the restroom or to buy your refreshments before making your ascent. The design does not include restrooms or concessions areas in the second level.

If you are seated in the east end zone of the upper level, expect bench seating rather than seats. Williams Arena realizes the star of the show is the game being played on the court and does its best to keep the distractions away from that at a minimum.

Any thoughts on building a new facility with more modern features are quickly dismissed by the fans and students of the school. Williams Arena is located within the sports complex on the University of Minnesota campus. The name of the neighborhood surrounding these facilities is Stadium Village, for obvious reasons.

Washington Avenue is the main thoroughfare for the neighborhood, as it serves as the address for a majority of the restaurants, nightclubs and lodging facilities in the area. It also forms the route for the Metrorail light rail system that covers virtually all of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. There is a wide variety of restaurants to choose from that are just a few blocks from Williams Arena.

The light rail system does a great job in getting you to a majority of the Twin Cities major attractions, with stations at the Mall of America, U.

The Gophers have one of the most energized fan bases in the Big Ten Conference. This is especially true in the student section, otherwise known as the Barnyard. Basically, it is a farm version of the Cameron Crazies, with students wearing the maroon and gold colors of the school, farm wear such as maroon-and-gold-pinstriped bib jeans and straw hats. The most dedicated members of this section even don costumes of such barnyard animals like pigs, chickens, cows, and goats.

The noise the Barnyard generates during a game can definitely distract the opposition, especially when the team benches are located below the playing floor level, virtually in the seating section. Williams who was the head football coach at Minnesota from through acknowledged the naming of the vast structure of his late father.

With the creation of the hockey arena, the Gopher hockey team had their first home ice arena on campus. On February 17, , before a crowd of 3,, the University of Minnesota Gopher hockey team played their first game in their new arena.

The opponent was Michigan State and the Gophers won the game So began a new era of Gophers hockey. This was the first time the tournament was played outside of Colorado Springs. On March 13, the final hockey game was played in Mariucci Arena. Today the now coined 'Old Mariucci' arena side of the complex was remodeled and was renamed the Sports Pavilion.