O'Connell Center

Before the O'Connell Center, the University of Florida's basketball teams and other indoor sports programs used the on-campus Florida Gymnasium, which was nicknamed Alligator Alley. The Florida Gym was built in 1949, and it was considered a difficult venue for opponents because the seating was very close to the court and, when full, the noise level was "deafening". However, it was also small, had very few amenities and had no air conditioning. It was compared to a "dismal and dreary" high school gym by observers.[10] By the early 1970s, Florida was the only school in the Southeastern Conference without a modern basketball facility, a factor that affected the recruiting of top players and held back the growth of its long-mediocre basketball program.[11][12]

In 1975, the University of Florida Athletic Association decided to seek funds to build a new facility for UF's indoor sports programs.[13] The University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa had also decided to build a large indoor arena at about the same time, so the schools agreed to commission a common architectural design to stretch limited state funding. As originally constructed, USF's Sun Dome (now known as the Yuengling Center) and UF's O'Connell Center featured almost identical inflatable roof systems and main arenas. The primary difference was that the O'Connell Center included training areas and facilities for other sports around the main arena while USF added these facilities to the Sun Dome in a later expansion.[14]

The $15.6 million O'Connell Center broke ground in October 1977 in a parking lot across the street from Florida Field.[13] Construction was delayed on both the Sun Dome and the O'Connell Center when cracks appeared in precast concrete support beams.[5] The problems were fixed after several months, and the sister facilities were completed within a few weeks of each other in late 1980 – the Sun Dome in November and the O'Connell Center in December.[14]

The first event at the Stephen C. O'Connell Student Activities Center (as it was originally known) was a Florida men's basketball game held on December 30, 1980.[11] It was officially dedicated a few weeks later in January 1981.

The new arena had an immediate positive effect on Florida's men's basketball program, and its first recruit was former coach Norm Sloan. Sloan had been Florida's coach in the 1960s but had left for North Carolina State, winning a national championship with the Wolfpack in 1974. He returned to Florida in 1980 and was thus the Gators' coach during the first season played in the new O'Connell Center. Sloan explained that he had "enjoyed it tremendously when I was here before, and I always felt that if Florida had the proper facility, I would consider coming back."[15] Playing in their new arena under Sloan, the Gators consistently improved and eventually made their first NCAA Tournament in 1986, setting the stage for greater success under subsequent coaches in the years to come.[12]

When it first opened, the O'Connell Center had an inflatable Teflon roof and a system of blowers and air handlers that kept the inside air pressure high enough to hold the flexible roof in place. This higher air pressure was not noticeable inside of the facility, but opening a door to the outside would result in a rush of air escaping the building, so revolving doors were installed at each of the four main gates to lessen the loss of pressure as thousands of fans entered or exited.[11] Maintenance costs for the inflation system rose over the years, and as part of a $10 million renovation in 1998, the roof was replaced with a more conventional hard shell dome. Though no longer in use, the old blowers and duct work for the inflation system remained in place until the facility was extensively renovated again in 2016.[13]

After the 1998 redesign of the roof, the facility underwent a smaller renovation in 2006, when the university updated some of the fold-able seating and replaced the four scoreboards located above Gates 1 through 4 in each corner of the arena. The old dot matrix boards were removed and replaced by modern video boards that could display instant replays and video presentations. Following the men's basketball team's victory in the national title game of the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, the University Athletic Association (UAA) bought the temporary hardwood floor that had been installed in the now-demolished Indianapolis RCA Dome for the Final Four. Although the national finals logos were removed by sanding, the basketball teams play on the same lumber on which the Gators won their first basketball national championship from 2011 to 2016. The UAA also bought the court used to win their second title from the Georgia Dome in 2007, and displayed it in the O'Connell Center during their championship celebration event, and later sold it in pieces to raise funds for scholarships.[16]

In March 2016, the O'Connell Center began a $64.5 million reconstruction / renovation project which included major updates to its layout and design. Led by contractors from Brasfield & Gorrie, the entire interior area of the arena, excluding foundation work, was demolished and rebuilt with the addition of a large hanging scoreboard and a luxury club with box seats. Locker rooms and meeting rooms were upgraded, swimming and gymnastics areas were revamped, and a "grand entrance" was built facing Ben Hill Griffin Stadium across the street, among many other improvements. When it reopened in December 2016, a naming rights deal with local medical firm Exactech changed the name of the main arena to the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.[6][7]