The William D. Mullins Memorial Center is a 10,500 seat multi-purpose arena in Amherst, Massachusetts. The arena opened in 1993. It is home to the University of Massachusetts Minutemen basketball and ice hockey teams. The arena has also hosted parts of the 1993-94 Atlantic Ten Conference men's basketball tournaments, the 1995 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships, the 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and many area concerts and college events.
Elton John, Bob Dylan, Metallica and Alanis Morrisette played there, as did family acts such as the Harlem Globetrotters and Sesame Street Live, but it is mainly used for UMass sporting events. For the new Broadway series, the center is partnering with the Theatre Council, a Chicago promoter.
There was a intense realization that University needed a multipurpose arena and convocation center to help expand the athletic program and assist in the university's growth. This suggestion was put forward William D. Mullins, a state representative from Ludlow in 1985,. He passed away in 1986, but the state went ahead with the building of the complex, naming it for him. It replaced the Curry Hicks Cage, the 1930s-era basketball gymnasium, as home of the Minutemen basketball teams. In addition, it allowed the hockey team, which had been downgraded to club status since the late 1970s, to be elevated to Division I status.
The Mullins Center has edged out the Fine Arts Center as Broadway's home next season at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In keeping with its goal of expanding the reach of the larger center, its new management company is bringing in three big Broadway shows, "42nd Street," "Miss Saigon" and "Cats." Both buildings are owned by the university, but the Mullins center is managed separately by a for-profit company while the Fine Arts Center is a not-for-profit department of UMass.
The design of the Mullins Center is marvelous. It includes a number of multi-purpose rooms, athletic offices, a "green room", press area, visitor and home team locker rooms and the usual concession stands, bathrooms, ticket areas, and lobby associated with a center of this type. The multi-purpose rooms offer flexibility in programming and use. For example, one function room overlooks the main arena and can be used for banquets and events associated with performances in the main arena. The function rooms also allow for limitless configurations for conferences.
A unique aspect of the Mullins Center design is that it affords direct access to the outdoor playing fields for athletes in the spring and summer. This proximity also provides an opportunity for several related functions to be included in the building. These include things like storage areas and access to rest rooms from outside areas.
The Mullins Center provides the University with an indoor facility of sufficient size to accommodate large numbers of the campus community. The broad range of services and programs, from rock concerts to racquetball courts, from a first class arena to watch intercollegiate sports to recreational skating, enhances the attractiveness of the University to prospective students. Additionally, the Mullins Center provides a wide range of employment opportunities for students.
The Mullins Center successfully provides revenue generation opportunities from events of major interest to the greater community.
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