The Richmond Arena was a multipurpose indoor sports facility located in and owned by the city of Richmond, Virginia. It was located south of Parker Field, between Boulevard and Hermitage Road. The barrel-vaulted arena originally was opened in 1908 as an exhibition hall and the administrative offices of the State Fair of Virginia, which was originall…
The Richmond Arena was a multipurpose indoor sports facility located in and owned by the city of Richmond, Virginia. It was located south of Parker Field, between Boulevard and Hermitage Road. The barrel-vaulted arena originally was opened in 1908 as an exhibition hall and the administrative offices of the State Fair of Virginia, which was originally held at the location. After World War II, however, the State Fair moved and the hall, which had been used as a motor pool garage for the Army during the war, was turned over to the city and used as a city garage. By this time, the University of Richmond was looking for an arena to host its basketball program. No other arena in the city held more than 2,000 spectators, and the university wished for a larger venue. It was the idea of Clyde Ratcliffe, son of the former head of the State Fair, to turn the exhibition hall into an arena. The first sporting event held in the hall was a Richmond Spiders men's basketball game against the VMI Keydets.
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