Champaign - Assembly Hall

Assembly Hall is an arena, which is part of the University of Illinois, and is used for basketball and other sports events, and for performances. It has 16,000 permanent seats, and can hold up to 17,200 spectators as a theater in the round. It was opened in 1963.

 

Assembly Hall was the site of the final round in the Illinois state high school basketball tournament, when I lived in Peoria in the 1970s. Class A (small) schools played one weekend, and class AA (large) schools the following weekend. My wife Eileen and I went to the class A tournament several times. I preferred that, because it was more like basketball when I was in high school.

 

We drove to Champaign (about two hours), and watched the two semifinal games in the afternoon. (You could always buy tickets for the class A games.) We ate dinner, usually at a restaurant named Jolly Roger. Then we drove back to Peoria, listening to the consolation game on the radio on the way. When we returned home, we watched the final on television.

 

 

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