The Place:
Lawlor Events Center, opened in 1983, is the largest arena in northern Nevada. Events held here include Wolf Pack men's and women's basketball; Winter Commencement; concerts by top rock, pop, country, rap, and gospel recording artists; community dances and social gatherings; other sporting events; presentations by public figures; and conventions. Capacity is 11,200. Named after Nevada's legendary coach and athletic director, Glenn "Jake" Lawlor, the Events Center was made possible by a grant approved by the Nevada State Legislature in 1979, with the grand opening held on Nov. 4, 1983. Originally built at a cost of $26 million, Lawlor Events Center has undergone periodic modifications and improvements. ~source
During the 1998-99 season, Lawlor Events Center unveiled a state-of-the-art electronic imaging scoreboard that allows fans to see highlights before each game, player pictures and stats, and includes two statistics boards at each end of the floor. At the start of the 1999-2000 season, in a never-ending effort to consistently modify the facility, the teams played on a new floor.
The arena's capacity and the efforts taken to improve the facility made Lawlor the home of the Big West Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments from 1996-2000. It didn't take the WAC long to tab Nevada for yet another championship tournament coming to Reno in March of 2005 and returning in 2006.
The NBA chose Lawlor for two consecutive years to host exhibition games. So far, the Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors and the Seattle Supersonics have all played at Lawlor. In addition to the NBA, the Harlem Globetrotters have also played at Lawlor Events Center.
Lawlor Events Center is far from just a basketball arena. The facility has served as host to concerts and events throughout its history. Lawlor has been host to such sporting events as the Professional Bull Riding Association's Bullnanza and concerts such as Fleetwood Mac, Cher, Bette Midler, Metallica, Prince, Pavarotti, Tina Turner and Elton John.
As a concert facility, Lawlor is capable of seating 12,000 spectators, and the arena can be changed in configuration or reduced in size to accommodate smaller acts or to provide a more intimate theater setting.
Also utilized extensively for conventions and meetings, Lawlor's main floor provides accommodations for large convention exhibits, and can be used for large group gatherings.
The arena's meeting and convention complex, which was upgraded in July of 2002, includes a large foyer for receptions and registration for meetings and conventions. Eight meeting/ banquet rooms provide nearly 10,000 square feet of space, which can be easily divided into smaller rooms with fully-movable partitions and service access to all areas.
Each of Nevada's basketball teams have locker rooms in the facility with two more opponent locker rooms and two smaller dressing rooms. Additional rooms are utilized for press conferences, educational/social functions, performer rehearsals, personnel briefings, storage for performers, and auxiliary dining, as well as housing for the facility's executive offices. ~source
The Person:
Glenn J. “Jake” Lawlor has been for more than four decades one of the best-known sports figures in Nevada. A native of Iowa and at nineteen already an accomplished athlete, Lawlor arrived in Nevada in 1926 to attend the University at Reno. There, in company with his brother, he achieved recognition for outstanding performances in baseball, basketball, and football. The Lawlor brothers were familiar to hundreds of spectators at sports events all over the West during the 1920’s.
After graduation from the University of Nevada in 1930 and a brief career in professional baseball, Jake Lawlor became a high school coach at Virginia City, Nevada, where he served as mentor for high school, elementary school, and town athletes from 1932 to 1937. Leaving Virginia City to pursue graduate studies, he subsequently accepted a new coaching assignment at Delano, California, where he coached the teams of the Delano Joint Union High School from 1938 to 1942, visiting often in Reno to see friends or for summer work.
In 1942, Jake Lawlor returned to the University of Nevada, where he served as coach in nearly every sport, as a friend and adviser to hundreds of students, and as an inspiration both to young players and to other coaches. Lawlor was at the University during its brief “big time” sports era and through years of retrenchment in the athletics
program; he was coach to both outstanding professionals and to youngsters who just enjoyed a good game. Many, if not most of the
present-day high school coaches in Nevada learned their craft from Jake Lawlor; probably thousands of students acquired the elements
of sports and sportsmanship under his tutelage. Lawlor’s oral history ranges widely over nearly all segments of his lengthy career. ~source
Glenn Lawlor was born July 27, 1907 and died July 1, 1980 at age 72.