The Winfield Dunn Center (officially the

Winfield Dunn Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn (born July 1, 1927) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 43rd governor of Tennessee from 1971 to 1975. He was the state's first Republican governor in fifty years.Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennesse ...

Health and Physical Education Building and Convocation Complex) is a facility, located on the main campus of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Construction began on the (then) $5.3 million facility in 1973, and the building opened in 1975. It is home to the

Austin Peay Governors The Austin Peay Governors are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Austin Peay State University (APSU), located in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States. The Governors athletic program is a member of the ASUN Conference. Prior to 2022 the Gover ...

men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

s through the 2022–23 season, and will continue to be home to Peay's women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team after the basketball teams move. It also serves as an indoor practice facility for the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

teams. It also houses the athletics department's weight room and the David P. Roe Academic Services Center which was named for alumnus Phil Roe. The building was named for the governor of Tennessee at the time of its construction. The Dunn Center features a 7,257-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

named the Dave Aaron Arena in 1988 in honor of the longtime Austin Peay athletic director and coach, Dave Aaron. In the fall of 2007, the basketball court was named the Dave Loos Court to honor the then athletic director and men's basketball coach

Dave Loos David Henry Loos (born March 5, 1947) is a retired American college basketball coach who most recently served as head coach of the men's team at Austin Peay State University, where he is also a former athletic director. He was head coach from 1990 ...

. It hosted the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

men's basketball tournament in 1977. The basketball teams originally planned to leave the Dunn Center after the 2021–22 season, moving to the new F&M Bank Arena in downtown Clarksville. However, construction delays put off the basketball teams' move until the 2023–24 season. Once the basketball teams move, the basketball arena will be reconfigured into a volleyball-specific facility. The Dunn Center is often referred to as "The House That Fly Built", a reference to Austin Peay basketball great

Fly Williams James "Fly" Williams (born February 18, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player, who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Spirits of St. Louis. A street basketball player from New York, he once scored ...

. It has also been called "The Big Red Barn," a reference to its predecessor gymnasium where Williams played (which had been built during the World War II era) that was known as the "Little Red Barn."

Records

The Austin Peay men's basketball team earned their 350th victory in the building on December 30, 2013, as they defeated Dalton State College 93–57. With that victory, the men's basketball program owned a 350–144 record in the facility.

References

External links

Austin Peay State University websiteAPSU athletics website
Austin Peay Governors basketball Sports venues in Tennessee College basketball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in Tennessee Basketball venues in Tennessee Sports in Clarksville, Tennessee Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Tennessee Buildings and structures in Clarksville, Tennessee Sports venues completed in 1975 1975 establishments in Tennessee College volleyball venues in the United States {{Tennessee-stadium-stub

Records

See also

References

External links