UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse

A. J. Palumbo Center
Location	600 Forbes Avenue; Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Owner	Duquesne University
Operator	Duquesne University
Capacity	4,390
Surface	Hardwood
Construction
Broke ground	September 3, 1986
Opened	June 11, 1988
Construction cost	$10.1 million; ($26 million in 2023 dollars)
Architect	DRS Architects
Tenants
	Duquesne Dukes (NCAA) (1988–present); Pittsburgh Piranhas (CBA) (1994–1995)

A. J. Palumbo Center is a 4,406-seat multi-purpose arena in the Uptown area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania served by exits on both Interstate 376 and Interstate 579. The arena opened in 1988, and is part of Duquesne University. It is home to the Duquesne Dukes basketball, volleyball and wrestling programs. The center hosts concerts, boxing, and other special events, and is capable of converting the seating arrangement into a sport, stage, or theatre setup.^[3] The facility was named in honor of its benefactor, Antonio J. Palumbo, who was elected to the Duquesne University board of directors and, in 1987, received an honorary doctorate of Business and Administration from Duquesne. Performance Magazine, a concert trade magazine, has consistently ranked the Palumbo Center as one of the top 10 grossing arenas of its size since its opening in 1988.^[4]

Facilities

In 2006, the Palumbo Center underwent major renovations. In addition to resurfacing the basketball court, upgrading video monitors, and replacing some seating sections, the facility was updated and renovated to include:

New men's and women's basketball staff offices
Recruiting suite
Video breakdown room
Strength and conditioning facilities
Athletic trainer facilities

The center houses the administrative offices for the athletic department and facility management. The center is also open to intramural sports and other recreation groups; however, in 2007, Duquesne University completed a new five-story recreational facility on Forbes Ave. near the A.J. Pablumbo Center, which has now become the primary facility for recreational sports and activities.

After the 2009-2010 basketball season, Duquesne University began major renovations on the Palumbo Center. A new center-hung scoreboard was installed as well as new corner scoreboards. In addition, current bleacher seating on the north end of the arena was replaced with permanent stadium chairs. The University also received $1.8 million in private donations to upgrade the locker rooms for the men's and women's basketball teams and the volleyball team. It will be called the James and Janice Schaming Athletic Center, named after the largest donor.^[5]

Sports

Prior to the building of the facility, the men's basketball team played games at various sites around the city, including Pittsburgh Civic Arena (their exclusive home from 1964 to 1988, and used for occasional big games until 2009), Fitzgerald Field House, and Duquesne Gardens, as well as several high school gymnasiums. The first men's basketball game was played in the arena on December 3, 1988, in which Duquesne defeated St. Joseph's 73-69. As of January 2008, Duquesne men's basketball had 132-125 (.514) all-time record at the Palumbo Center.^[6] The facility is used for most major sports at Duquesne, and has played host to NIT games, WNIT games, high school post season championships, national wrestling championships, and Atlantic 10 tournament competitions. During the 1994-95 basketball season, the Palumbo Center was the home of the Continental Basketball Association's Pittsburgh Piranhas. In the team's lone season in Pittsburgh, the Piranhas lost to the Yakima Sun Kings in the 1995 CBA finals. The new CONSOL Energy Center is now the home to the annual Pitt Panthers-Duquesne Dukes City Game^[7] as well as basketball games of regional interest, such as a men's game played on December 12, 2010 between the West Virginia Mountaineers and Duquesne.^[8]

The Palumbo Center is also home to the women's volleyball team and hosted the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2012, won by Temple.

For their 2017-18 season and part of the 2018-19 season, the arena will serve as the home of the Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball team for four games while the new UPMC Events Center is constructed on campus.

Preceded by Mellon Arena	Home of Duquesne Dukes Basketball 1988-	Succeeded by future

References

^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-03-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "A J Palumbo Center Pittsburgh". Citysearch. Archived from the original on 2007-06-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Duquesne: Another gift will add to Palumbo renovation". www.post-gazette.com.
^ "Men's Basketball To Face Duquesne Saturday Night in Pittsburgh". cstv.com.
^ Dunlap, Colin. "Q&A submissions 12/02/09 -- Future site of the City Game?". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Sports". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-17. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

40°26′15″N 79°59′16″W / 40.4374°N 79.9879°W / 40.4374; -79.9879

[1] "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.

[inflation-US-2] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-03-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] "A J Palumbo Center Pittsburgh". Citysearch. Archived from the original on 2007-06-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[5] "Duquesne: Another gift will add to Palumbo renovation". www.post-gazette.com.

[6] "Men's Basketball To Face Duquesne Saturday Night in Pittsburgh". cstv.com.

[7] Dunlap, Colin. "Q&A submissions 12/02/09 -- Future site of the City Game?". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[8] "Sports". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-17. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

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v t e Duquesne Dukes men's basketball
Venues	Duquesne Gardens (1914–1956) Fitzgerald Field House (1956–1957, 1963–1964) Pittsburgh Civic Arena (1964–1988) UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (1988–present)
Rivalries	Pittsburgh
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

v t e Duquesne Dukes women's basketball
Venues	Campus Gymnasium (1973–1984) Pittsburgh Civic Arena (1984–1988) UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (1988–present)
Rivalries	Pittsburgh
Culture & lore	History
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

v t e Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball
Venues	John Jay Center (1976–1985) Sewall Center (1985–2017) Palumbo Center and PPG Paints Arena (2017–2018) North Athletic Complex (2018–2019) UPMC Events Center (2019–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e City of Pittsburgh
Government	Airport Convention Center City Hall Courthouse Mayor Council Events InterGov Police District Attorney Sheriff Fire Libraries Transit Education Parks Port Regional
Economy	Allegheny Conference Duquesne Club Chamber of Commerce Corporations Economic Club HYP Club Stock Exchange
Other topics	Colleges and universities Culture cookie table theatre Green Man Pittsburgh Parking Chair Picklesburgh Dialect Yinzer Flag Fictional settings Filming films television History name timeline Jewish history 2018 synagogue shooting Pittsburgh toilet Hospitals Media Museums Neighborhoods Nicknames Notable Pittsburghers Region combined statistical area Skyscrapers Sports
Category

Facilities

Sports

See also

References

External links