Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion, often known as simply
Hofheinz Pavilion, is an 8,500-seat multi-purpose
arenaAn arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
on the
University of HoustonThe University of Houston is a public research university located in Houston and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System...
campus in
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
. Located at 3875 Holman Street, it is home to the University of Houston Cougars men's and women's
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
teams as well as the women's volleyball team. The building is named for the late wife, Mary Hofheinz, of Houston politician, businessman and philanthropist
Judge Roy HofheinzRoy Mark Hofheinz , popularly known as Judge Hofheinz or "The Judge", was mayor of the city of Houston, Texas from 1953 to 1955...
, who is a
UH alumnus, while the court is named for hall of fame and former Cougars coach Guy V.
Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion, often known as simply
Hofheinz Pavilion, is an 8,500-seat multi-purpose
arenaAn arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
on the
University of HoustonThe University of Houston is a public research university located in Houston and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System...
campus in
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
. Located at 3875 Holman Street, it is home to the University of Houston Cougars men's and women's
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
teams as well as the women's volleyball team. The building is named for the late wife, Mary Hofheinz, of Houston politician, businessman and philanthropist
Judge Roy HofheinzRoy Mark Hofheinz , popularly known as Judge Hofheinz or "The Judge", was mayor of the city of Houston, Texas from 1953 to 1955...
, who is a
UH alumnus, while the court is named for hall of fame and former Cougars coach Guy V. Lewis. The arena also contains an alcove dedicated to Elvin Hayes, the great Cougar basketball player in the 1960s. The arena opened in 1969. Like many arenas of its kind, the seating bowl of Hofheinz Pavilion is dug into the ground so that one enters the building at the top of the bowl. Hofheinz Pavilion has been renovated several times in recent years.
The
NBA'sThe National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America . It is an active member of USA Basketball , which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body for basketball in the United States...
Houston RocketsThe Houston Rockets is an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
used the arena as their first home in Houston. In addition to athletics, the arena has been used for other purposes such as UH graduation ceremonies and area high school commencements. It has also hosted many concerts by famous artists. The Summit took over for much of these purposes in the city after its construction in 1975.
History
Prior to 1969, the basketball team of the University of Houston hosted their home games at high school arenas such as Jeppesen Gym and Delmar Field House. Hofheinz Pavilion was meant to replace these venues as a permanent location.
The first athletic event at Hofheinz Pavilion was held on December 1, 1969 when the Houston Cougars men's basketball team defeated Southwestern Louisiana 89-72 before a crowd of 7,000.
When the team relocated from San Diego in 1971, the NBA's
Houston RocketsThe Houston Rockets is an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
used the venue as their home arena. The Rockets played at Hofheinz during their first several seasons in Houston until the construction of The Summit was completed in 1975.
On March 5, 1990, Hofheinz Pavilion hosted its largest amount of spectators to date when a 10,660 crowd attended a men's basketball game where Houston beat
TexasThe Texas Longhorns men's basketball team represents The University of Texas at Austin in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Longhorns currently compete in the Big 12 Conference....
.
A new ceiling, lighting and sound system were installed in 1991. Through a donation by alumni
John and Rebecca MooresJohn Jay Moores is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, and former owner of the San Diego Padres.-Early years:Moores was raised in Houston, Texas in a middle class neighborhood. He left Texas A&M University before graduating and became a programmer for IBM...
in 1992, the basketball locker rooms were enlarged and equipped with personal lockers for each player. Also added was a meeting area and lounge furnished with couches, a color television, a stereo sound system and a pull-down projection screen.
In 1995, the arena was renamed to "Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion" in honor of College Basketball Hall of Fame coach Guy V. Lewis.
In 1998, Hofheinz again underwent a renovation as part of a capital improvement campaign undertaken by the university to upgrade its athletic facilities. In its original format Hofheinz Pavilion had a
seating capacitySeating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, either in terms of the physical space available, or in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that...
of 10,000. As part of the renovation, a ring of luxury suites was added to the top of the seating bowl. This addition necessitated the removal of 1,500 seats, reducing capacity to its current level of 8,500. The new Conor Uni-Force Flooring System was installed in October 2004.
Concerts
Hofheinz Pavilion has hosted
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
, The
Grateful DeadThe Grateful Dead were an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, jazz, psychedelia, and space rock—and for live performances of long musical...
,
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page , Robert Plant , John Paul Jones and John Bonham . With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin are regarded as one of the first heavy metal bands, helping to pioneer the genre...
, the Rolling Stones,The Jackson Five
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
,
PrincePrince Rogers Nelson is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He performs under the mononym Prince but has also been known by various other names, most notably the unpronounceable symbol which he used as his stage name between 1993 and 2000...
,
MadonnaMadonna is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance...
,
GenesisGenesis are a Grammy Award-winning English rock band formed in 1967, and are among the top 30 highest-selling recording artists of all time with approximately 150 million albums sold worldwide, including 21.5 million albums sold in the United States. In 1988, the band won the Grammy Award for Best...
and
YesYes are an English progressive rock band that was formed in London in 1968. Their music is marked by sharp dynamic contrasts, extended song lengths, abstract lyrics, and a general showcasing of instrumental prowess. Yes blends symphonic and other 'classical' structures with their own brand of...
. Popular music concerts are still held at Hofheinz, often when a major act decides against playing at the larger (and ticketing-industry controlled) venues in town. Prince held several shows at Hofheinz Pavilion on his
Musicology TourIn 2004, Prince toured North America to promote his Musicology album. The tour was often billed as Musicology Live2004ever. The tour lasted from 27 March – 9 September 2004 and covered 96 dates throughout the United States and Canada, fetching a significant profit for Prince...
in 2004, but most current performances are by less popular artists.
External links