Leavey Center, also known as the Leavey Activities Center or occasionally by its old nickname the Toso Pavilion, is

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

's indoor basketball arena in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

. It is home to the Santa Clara University Broncos Division I

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

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 Summ ...

Teams. It has hosted the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

men's basketball tournament ten times.

Arena history

Leavey Center began life as the Harold J. Toso Pavilion, or Toso Pavilion constructed in 1975. The facility featured an air supported vinyl fabric roof supported by 11 large fans constantly producing a higher air pressure inside the dome than outside, similar to the

Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known simply as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, ...

BC Place Stadium BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a crown corporation of the province. The venue is currently ...

. The inside of the facility featured the main activity floor, two recreation areas, and team locker rooms. The roof developed several tears over the years and on April 4, 2000, the dome was deflated to make room for a more permanent roof structure to be built over the arena. The newly rechristened Leavey Center was renovated and reopened on December 13, 2000, now sporting a much taller steel roof supported by eight large concrete caissons outside the arena. The interior was only partially constructed on opening day with most of the western half of the building still walled off with plywood. However, in late 2001 the construction was completed and the Leavey Center reopened featuring a new two level grandstand on the east side of the court in addition to the single level seating around the rest of the court. The indoor track had been removed and a second practice court was moved to behind the west bleachers. The athletic offices of the university were also moved into the new center behind the larger eastern grandstand. The renovation cost $14 million to complete. The Leavey Center is named after the late founder of

Farmers Insurance Farmers Insurance Group (informally Farmers) is an American insurer group of vehicles, homes and small businesses and also provides other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance has more than 48,000 exclusive and independen ...

, Thomas E. Leavey, who graduated from Santa Clara in 1922. The renovations were funded by the

Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation is a charitable foundation in Los Angeles, California. History The foundation was established by Farmers Insurance Group co-founder Thomas E. Leavey and his wife Dorothy E. Risley Leavey in 1952.Myrna Oliv ...

. Leavey Center also played host to the

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

basketball teams for a number of games while the

Maples Pavilion Maples Pavilion is a 7,392-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. Opened in 1969, Maples underwent a $30 million renovation in March 2004 and reopened ahead of schedule, in time for conference pla ...

underwent renovation.

External links

Official Leavey Center Website
{{Authority control Sports venues in Santa Clara County, California College basketball venues in the United States College volleyball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in California Santa Clara Broncos basketball Basketball venues in California Volleyball venues in California Sports venues in the San Francisco Bay Area 1975 establishments in California Sports venues completed in 1975

Arena history

See also

External links