I was told when Montgomery County was building the Arena that 4200 is the maximum the KDE will allow a school to build now. Can anyone with KDE knowledge confirm that?

I hit on this in an early post. I am not sure how many the old gym at the school held, but from what I was told is when re-building a school the state will only allow the seating to be as much as the old gym, if the district wants it to be more, they are the ones who will need to come up with the money, excluding tax money, to build it.

 

A friend who lives near Columbus Ohio had his school rebuilt, everything was rebuilt but the gym, which looks to have been built in the 60's or early 70's. I was told Ohio would not let them build a new gym.

[TABLE=class: wikitable sortable jquery-tablesorter]

[TR]

[TH=class: headerSort][/TH]

[TH=class: headerSort]State[/TH]

[TH=class: headerSort]City[/TH]

[TH=class: headerSort]Venue[/TH]

[TH=class: headerSort]Capacity[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]1[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]New Castle[/TD]

[TD]New Castle Fieldhouse[/TD]

[TD]9,325^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]2[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]East Chicago[/TD]

[TD]John A. Baratto Athletic Center[/TD]

[TD]8,296^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]3[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Seymour[/TD]

[TD]Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium[/TD]

[TD]8,110^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]4[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Richmond[/TD]

[TD]Tiernan Center[/TD]

[TD]8,100^[3][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]5[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Marion[/TD]

[TD]Bill Green Athletic Arena[/TD]

[TD]7,560 ^[4][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]6[/TH]

[TD]Texas[/TD]

[TD]Dallas[/TD]

[TD]Alfred J. Loos Fieldhouse[/TD]

[TD]7,500^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]7[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Elkhart[/TD]

[TD]North Side Gymnasium[/TD]

[TD]7,373^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]8[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Michigan City[/TD]

[TD]"The Wolves' Den" Gym[/TD]

[TD]7,304^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]9[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Gary[/TD]

[TD]West Side High School Gym[/TD]

[TD]7,217^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]10[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Lafayette[/TD]

[TD]Jefferson High School Gym[/TD]

[TD]7,200^[5][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]11[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Indianapolis[/TD]

[TD]Southport High School Gym[/TD]

[TD]7,124^[5][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]12[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Washington[/TD]

[TD]"The Hatchet House"[/TD]

[TD]7,090^[6][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]13[/TH]

[TD]Indiana[/TD]

[TD]Columbus[/TD]

[TD]Memorial Gymnasium[/TD]

[TD]7,071^[5][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]14=[/TH]

[TD]Arizona[/TD]

[TD]Chinle[/TD]

[TD]Wildcat Den[/TD]

[TD]7,000^[7][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]14=[/TH]

[TD]Kentucky[/TD]

[TD]Somerset[/TD]

[TD]Pulaski County High School Gym[/TD]

[TD]7,000^[8][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

This list of the biggest in America has Pulaski Listed at 7,000

 

Side Note the old #2 in Indiana is now closed...the WigWam in Anderson IN was second only to New Castle when it was open.

New Castle also can get several hundred on their track (that goes around the top of the arena) for SRO...back in the day they would easily have over 10K in for big games.

The top 16 in Indiana:

 

9314 New Castle

8996 Anderson

8296 East Chicago

8110 Seymour

8100 Richmond

7560 Marion

7373 Elkhart

7304 Michigan City

7217 Gary West

7200 Lafayette Jeff

7124 Southport

7090 Washington

7071 Columbus North

6545 Muncie Central

6347 Bedford N. Lawrence

6092 Southridge

 

 

I would be willing to bet those and tons of other large gyms were built before they introduced class basketball. Golly I hated to see that.

 

I came from a town of 800, and we had a 2,800 seat gym...built in 1950. I'm told they filled it up with what was called a "four-way tourney" each New Years Day for several years. And there were still large crowds until consolidation in 1965.

 

Side Note the old #2 in Indiana is now closed...the WigWam in Anderson IN was second only to New Castle when it was open.

 

Maybe at one time Pulaski claimed it was 7,000 or they packed them in over the fire code. I don't know.

 

But sad to see Anderson's gym close, I have been in there and enjoyed it. I have been in Richmond's and Muncie's gyms a few times each, out of the H.S. gyms in Indiana those two are at top of my list. Connersville was nice as well.

Maybe at one time Pulaski claimed it was 7,000 or they packed them in over the fire code. I don't know.

 

But sad to see Anderson's gym close, I have been in there and enjoyed it. I have been in Richmond's and Muncie's gyms a few times each, out of the H.S. gyms in Indiana those two are at top of my list. Connersville was nice as well.

I like Muncie's also, but the Fieldhouse in New Castle is the King of Indiana Basketball IMO

 

As far as Pulaski's goes you could be right. There is a ton of standing room on the East end above the bleachers, that alone could hold several hundred.

 

FWIW I just tried to call AD to see what he thinks the seating capacity is and he was out of his office!

Barren County - 4,200

Boyd County - 5,000

Breathitt County - 4,000

Knott County Central - 5,000

 

Not that it matters, but.......

 

There's no way Breathitt Coluseum holds 4,000.

3,000 to 3,200 would even be a stretch. This was a big debate between me and a buddy from Breathitt, so to settle it he and I sat together during a regional tournament semifinal with a packed gym and we started counting the rows and the number of fans in each row, them multiplying the rows, taking in to consideration the rows shorten as you climb upward because the gym is circular in shape. Our final count, end zone and all, was 2,800. So giving them the beinifit of the doubt we figured 3,000-3200. And that included standing room.

In my opinion most gyms don't seat what's listed in the KHSAA website. Our gym at my school is listed at 1,500 but it will actually seat about 1,000, 500 on each side of the gym. I suppose those are capacity fire marshal numbers that the KHSAA has in their reports, but those are inflated.

I would be willing to bet those and tons of other large gyms were built before they introduced class basketball. Golly I hated to see that.

 

I came from a town of 800, and we had a 2,800 seat gym...built in 1950. I'm told they filled it up with what was called a "four-way tourney" each New Years Day for several years. And there were still large crowds until consolidation in 1965.

 

They built them that big because the biggest gym held their sectional tournaments! So it was always a race to the biggest gym!

I like Muncie's also, but the Fieldhouse in New Castle is the King of Indiana Basketball IMO

 

As far as Pulaski's goes you could be right. There is a ton of standing room on the East end above the bleachers, that alone could hold several hundred.

 

FWIW I just tried to call AD to see what he thinks the seating capacity is and he was out of his office!

Are you busy this week? Head on over and sit in every spot and have a clicker, then get back with us, lol.

 

I have never been in New Castle's, which is odd since I drove right through there to get to Muncie a few times. I'll have to get up there sometime.

Maybe at one time Pulaski claimed it was 7,000 or they packed them in over the fire code. I don't know.

 

But sad to see Anderson's gym close, I have been in there and enjoyed it. I have been in Richmond's and Muncie's gyms a few times each, out of the H.S. gyms in Indiana those two are at top of my list. Connersville was nice as well.

 

That Richmond gym, the Tiernon Center, is something else. When we played there last season, my kids were pretty intimidated by the place, never played in anything near it, and probably never will. Add to that we were playing a top 15 (at the time) school in Indiana, and that just doubled the intimidation. Would have loved to have seen the place packed. Unfortunately a big snow storm hit the first night and the crowds never materialized. Place looked almost empty the two games we played in it.

Are you busy this week? Head on over and sit in every spot and have a clicker, then get back with us, lol.

 

I have never been in New Castle's, which is odd since I drove right through there to get to Muncie a few times. I'll have to get up there sometime.

 

I'll be back over there (Pulaski) for an Archery Shoot and will take an Eyeball SWAG at it!

 

Wayne Co actually played up there (New Castle) a couple of weeks ago. I think they bring in some Kentucky teams for a Hall of Fame Classic or something like that every year. You walk into the gym at the top of the bleachers and the floor is down in a pit below ground level.

As of now...but keep on adding!

 

Marshall County - 6,000

Mason County - 5,400

Henry County - 5,400

Graves County - 5,200

Boyd County - 5,000

Knott County Central - 5,000

Pulaski County - 5,000

Perry County Central - 4,895

Hopkinsville - 4,800

Clark County - 4,500

Paul Dunbar - 4,500

Barren County - 4,200

Lincoln County - 4,200

Mayfield - 4,200

Montgomery County - 4,200

Pike County Central - 4,200

Greenup County - 4,100

Breathitt County - 4,000

Central Hardin - 4,000

 

Just curious, but how many people do these teams average for a game per season?

Wonder who has the smallest gyms. In the 8th it's Eminence. Small and hard to find a seat that does not have an obstructed view.

 

Now THAT would be interesting, along with the oldest.

Wonder who has the smallest gyms. In the 8th it's Eminence. Small and hard to find a seat that does not have an obstructed view.

 

In the 9th, I don't know the capacity, but it would have to be Heritage Academy... they recently did an expansion that got them from 2 row of bleachers to 5 rows of bleachers!