Stabler Arena is a 6,200-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

, in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

region of the state. Owned and operated by

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

, it is located on the school's Goodman Campus. Stabler Arena bears the name of Donald B. Stabler, a 1930 Lehigh graduate, founder of Stabler Companies Inc., and a member of the university's

Board of Trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

for over 30 years. He and his wife, Dorothy, were the primary donors for the facility.''Lehigh Receives Largest Gift in its History''
Lehigh University, Saturday, May 31, 2008. The arena officially opened with Lehigh's Commencement Exercises on May 29, 1979, replacing Taylor Gymnasium, which had hosted Lehigh athletics since 1914. Its first public event was Holiday on Ice in November later that same year.

Athletics

Stabler Arena is home to the

Mountain Hawks

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 (appro ...

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 in ...

s, who play in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

. Stabler was also home to two indoor football

s, the Lehigh Valley Outlawz and the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks and the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs basketball team. Stabler also has hosted ABC's '' Wide World of Sports'' and the U.S. Women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

finals.

Concerts

Because of the arena's reputation for exceptional acoustics and lively audiences, some musical acts have started their U.S. tours at Stabler Arena, including

The Cranberries The Cranberries were an Irish rock music, rock band formed in Limerick in 1989. The band was composed of lead singer and guitarist Dolores O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan (Noel's brother), and drummer Fergal Lawler. O'Riord ...

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

KISS A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

, and

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

. Notable Stabler Arena concerts have included: *October 7, 1980:

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

on their

Back in Black Tour The Back in Black Tour was a concert tour by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC in support of their seventh studio album ''Back in Black'', which was released on 25 July 1980. Background This was AC/DC's first tour with new vocalist Brian Jo ...

. *September 25, 1981:

. *December 27, 1982:

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

on his tour supporting ''

The Nylon Curtain ''The Nylon Curtain'' is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on September 23, 1982, and produced by Phil Ramone. ''The Nylon Curtain'' peaked at on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard charts ...

'' album. This appearance was notable as Joel's song "

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

" was a big hit at that time, and Stabler Arena was the largest venue in the

. *October 21, 1987:

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

; the music video for her 1987 single "

So Emotional "So Emotional" is a song by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released as the third single from her second studio album '' Whitney'' (1987) on October 12, 1987, by Arista Records. The song was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and ...

" was filmed during the concert. *September 26, 1990:

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...

performed as part of his

Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em World Tour Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em World Tour is the first world tour by American recording artist MC Hammer to promote his album ''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em''. It was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and promoted by MTV. Beginning in Louisville, Kentucky, o ...

. *December 31, 1992:

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

played a pre-tour show specially done for the filming of their videos

Bed of Roses Bed of roses is an English expression that represents a carefree life. This idiomatic expression is still popular. In the thirteenth-century work Le Roman de la Rose (called "The French Iliad" in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable), a L ...

and

In These Arms "In These Arms" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on May 3, 1993, by Mercury and Jambco, as the third single from the band's fifth studio album, '' Keep the Faith'' (1992). The song was written by band members Jon Bon Jovi, Rich ...

of their

Keep The Faith ''Keep the Faith'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on November 3, 1992, by Mercury Records. It is Bon Jovi's last studio album to feature all five original band members as bass guitarist Alec John Such was di ...

album. *November 9, 1993:

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

, in one of lead singer's

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

's final performances prior to his

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

five months later, on April 5, 1994. *February 11, 2007:

Breaking Benjamin Breaking Benjamin is an American Rock music, rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, formed in 1999 by lead singer and guitarist Benjamin Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel. The first lineup of the band also included guitarist Aaron Fink an ...

filmed their entire concert there, which was released in April 2007 in the collectors edition CD and DVD that accompanied release of ''

Phobia A phobia is an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected ...

'', the band's album.

Renovations and upgrades

In the fall of 2016, brand new

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

video boards measuring tall and wide were installed in two corners of the arena. A new LED scorer's table was added, along with two new competition baskets with three-sided shot clocks, and two fixed digit scoreboards were installed in time for the start of the 2016-17 basketball season. The arena also debuted a new baseline club, a court-level area behind one of the baskets that features high-top tables. In the summer of 2017, the arena received a new basketball floor.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1979 establishments in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures completed in 1979 Buildings and structures in Northampton County, Pennsylvania College basketball venues in Pennsylvania Event venues established in 1979 Indoor arenas in Pennsylvania Lehigh Mountain Hawks men's basketball Lehigh University buildings and structures Music venues in Pennsylvania

Athletics

Concerts

Renovations and upgrades

See also

References

External links