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{{Short description|Athletics complex in the United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
| stadium_name = Cam Henderson Center
| nickname = “The Cam”
| image =Cam Henderson Center exterior 2021.jpg
| caption = Cam Henderson Center Exterior in 2021
| ___location = Third Ave ([[U.S. Route 60|US Rte. 60]])<br />[[Huntington, West Virginia|Huntington]], [[West Virginia|WV]] 25755
| coordinates = {{coord|38|25|28.2612|N|82|25|30.7596|W|display=inline,title}}
| broke_ground =
| opened = 1981
| closed =
| demolished =
| architect =
| owner = [[Marshall University]]
| operator = [[Marshall University]]
| tenants = [[Marshall Thundering Herd|Marshall University Athletics]]
| seating_capacity = 5,175
| record_attendance = 10,705
}}
The '''Cam Henderson Center''' is the primary indoor athletics complex at [[Marshall University]] in [[Huntington, West Virginia]], [[United States of America|USA]].<ref name="facil">[http://herdzone.cstv.com/facilities/mars-cam-henderson.html Cam Henderson Center] at herdzone.cstv.com, URL accessed November 18, 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090827000957/http://herdzone.cstv.com/facilities/mars-cam-henderson.html Archived] 11/18/09</ref> The basketball and volleyball<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.herdzone.com/sports/w-volley/mars-w-volley-body.html |title=The Marshall University Thundering Herd Official Athletic Site |website=www.herdzone.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724232139/http://www.herdzone.com/sports/w-volley/mars-w-volley-body.html |archive-date=2008-07-24}}</ref> teams of the Marshall Thundering Herd use the venue for their home games. The first basketball game played in the facility was a varsity match between Marshall and Army on November 27, 1981.<ref>[http://www.marshall.edu/muhistory/mature/90.htmlx First game in the Henderson Center] (picture)</ref> The venue is named for [[Cam Henderson]], who coached football and basketball at the school from 1935 to 1955.<ref name="gull" />
== History ==
The Center was opened in [[1981]]. Its construction was a part of a deal in the [[West Virginia Legislature]] to support construction of what is now known as [[Milan Puskar Stadium]] at [[West Virginia University]]. Legislators affiliated with Marshall had opposed building such a facility unless Marshall, which then played basketball in a 30 year old county-owned facility, located 6 blocks from campus and seating only 6,500, also received an athletic facility.▼
=== Design ===
The facility, as designed, was to be a "state of the art" arena seating 14,000. However during construction, massive budget cuts were made and the finished product seated only 10,250. ▼
▲The facility, as designed, was to be a "state of the art" arena seating 14,000. However, during construction, massive budget cuts were made and the finished product seated only 10,250. The [[basketball]] arena currently seats 5,175 with the upper deck bleachers being tarped off due to safety concerns.<ref name="facil" />
The arena was designed with a retractable lower seating section, which permitted used of the floor area for indoor track and general use by the physical education department. However this seating never worked as designed, and eventually the school stopped retracting the seating for fear it would become stuck in that position. Also the poured concrete floor developed major cracks. ▼
▲The arena was designed with a retractable lower seating section, which permitted
=== Construction wrangles===
▲
[[File:Cam Henderson Center 2019.jpg|thumb|200px|Inside of Cam Henderson Center in 2019]]In 1996 the school, using settlement proceeds from a [[lawsuit]] against the seat manufacturer and a new state appropriation, replaced the lower section with a permanent seating section and repaired the floor, mostly ending the arena's use for anything except basketball and [[volleyball]], except a small annual charity [[tennis]] tournament. This reduced the [[seating capacity]] to its current level.<ref name="facil" /> With the decline in the men's basketball program, many years passed since the final reconfiguration of the facility without a capacity crowd seen in Henderson Center. On February 11, 2006, the Center was finally filled when the men's basketball team faced number 3-ranked [[University of Memphis]]. The women's basketball program has held "Jam The Cam" events resulting in attendance records for women's basketball in the [[Mid-American Conference]] (Marshall has since become a member of [[Conference USA]] and most recently the [[Sun Belt Conference]] and an occasional copycat event with one of the other lower-profile sports at Marshall, such as volleyball or swimming/diving.
The building was merged into the existing Gullickson Hall and contains athletic department offices and a competitive pool for [[swimming (sport)|swimming]] in addition to the arena.<ref name="gull">[http://www.marshall.edu/it/virtual-tour/google-earth-3d-tour/architectural/CamHandersonAndGullickson.html Cam Henderson Center and Gullickson Hall] at marshall.edu, URL accessed November 18, 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100528085126/http://www.marshall.edu/it/virtual-tour/google-earth-3d-tour/architectural/CamHandersonAndGullickson.html Archived] 11/18/09</ref>
In 2011, the University proposed a deal with the local park board to take over and remove the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse, which would be the site of [[Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex|a new soccer facility]]. The remaining basketball events at the fieldhouse, which are games of the city's two private high schools and regional rounds of the state basketball tournament, would move to the Henderson Center.
==See also==
* [[List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas]]
==References==
{{Commons category|Cam Henderson Center}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Marshall University}}
{{Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball navbox}}
{{Marshall Thundering Herd women's basketball navbox}}
{{Sun Belt Conference basketball venue navbox}}
[[Category:1981 establishments in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Marshall Thundering Herd basketball venues]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1981]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Huntington, West Virginia]]
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