The Dean Dome At a Glance: Home For Students, Tar Heel Fans and Athletes Alike

       The Dean Dome is the ultimate venue to play college basketball. We went on a hunt to track down one of UNC's baskteball players to find out what he thought and felt about the Dean Dome.  

Interview with Tyler Zeller (#44), a member and starter on the UNC Men's Basketball Team by Kristin Smith

For more information on Tyler visit his official UNC Player Bio page. 

Inside the Dean Dome, a virtual tour:

Dean Dome Quick Look

The Dean Dome serves not only as an Athletic Venue but as a political one: Then Democratic canidate hopeful Barack Obama .

It also hosts musical and dance concerts alike: View Janet Jackson's performance live at Chapel Hill, NC in the Dean Dome.

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The following blogs describe the Dean Dome's location, function and accessibility as well as detailing its rich history. It explores the orginal intent of the builders and architects involved. The blogs provide pictures and videos of what the Dean Dome looked like in the past as well as the present, although there has not been any significant changes since it was built.  

A Dean Dome History

     The Dean E. Smith Center opened January 18, 1986 at 300 Skipper Bowles Dr., Chapel Hill, NC 27599. Corley Redfoot Zac was the architect whom also had a hand in building several other UNC buildings on campus. The “Dean Dome,” as most now call it, as it was named after the renowned Coach Dean Smith, was built to allow more fans to attend Tar Heel basketball games. The 21-year-old, 10,000-seat Carmichael Auditorium, was simply too small to host the growing fan numbers. The Dean Dome now hosts the NCAA UNC Men’s Basketball Team. Some would say its prominent architecture symbolizes what a truly great school UNC-Chapel Hill is to the nation.

President Obama accepts personalized UNC Basketball Jersey

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The Dean Edwards Smith Center, or the “Dean Dome” which houses the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, is located on the southernmost edge of the university’s campus. The Dean Dome is used primarily for housing up to 23,000 people, holding the largest capacity out of all the ACC division facilities. However, the Dean Dome’s space and premier location, as it is located on a college campus, has also been used for a large range of entertainers such as Kenny Rogers in 1986, the Grateful Dead, Bon Jovi, John Denver, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N’ Roses, and Elton John. The Dean Dome as well as its neighbor, the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium, served as the basketball and aquatic venues for 1999 Special Olympic World Summer Games.

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Even more, various community activities are held in this facility; some of these community events include commencement ceremonies, blood drives, and career fairs. Such events can be easily supported by the Dean Dome as it is accessible to large groups of people. It is also ideal because it is located within the Research Triangle Park, which is the large research and commuter area of the “Triangle” of North Carolina which includes Raleigh, the state capital, Durham, and Chapel Hill. However, as the Dean Dome is primarily targeted for college students and the school’s alumni, it is an icon of the university’s national championships men’s basketball teams.

Men's Basketball NCAA National Champions 2009

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The Dean Dome is erected on the southern campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. The erection of such a large building on the more southern part of campus is for ease of access. Not located around the academic buildings, thousands of people can easily visit the UNC campus without facing traffic constraints. Specific directions to the Dean Dome from various locations can be found on the North Carolina Official Athletic Site with written directions and map illustrations.  Parking is located in the Ram’s Head parking deck in close proximity to the facility. Due to the limited amount of space, shuttle services are also provided in which shuttle buses transport people from specific locations off campus to the Dean Dome.  Disability parking is also available in the Bowles Lot adjacent to the building; there are a limited number of spots.  Additionally, the Dean Dome is accessible to all people as it is equipped with handicap seating by way of multiple ramps and seating platforms. There are also accessible water fountain, ATMs, and restroom facilities.

Source: http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/facilities/unc-smith-center.html

The Builder's Orginal Intent- A Modern Day House of the Gods?

The Dean Dome was originally constructed to thwart the increasing demand for tickets to predominantly men’s basketball games. Prior to the completion of the Dean Dome, the Tar Heels played in Carmichael Gym, which because of its capacity of only 10,000, did not satisfy both the student body and alumni that wanted to attend games. The official name of Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center is derived from the famous basketball coach Dean Smith, who coached the team from 1961 to 1997. 

Carmichael Gym, the venue used before Dean Dome

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Weight Room in Dean Dome
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          Overtime, as the demand for larger facilities for other events also increased, the Dean Dome has truly lived up to its billing as a multi-purpose facility. Over the years, it has hosted several concerts and other entertainment events such as an Olympic qualifier in 1987, due to its large seating capacity. It was the largest venue on the East Coast until the completion of the Charlotte Coliseum in 1988.

The Dean Dome is one of the most recognized aspects of UNC’s campus because of the history encompassing the success of the men’s basketball team. However, the Dean Dome is much more than just the basketball court and surrounding seats. Included in the facility are the often overlooked locker rooms, weight rooms and other aspects of life that are essential to preparing the team for its games. 



Lounge
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Also included is a lounge and adjacent practice court where the team can gather to work on plays and strategy for the upcoming game, making a one stop shop for the basketball players to practice for, recover from and play in their epic games.



Practice Court
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The Dean Dome can vary in meaning depending on the person; naturally depending on one’s relationship with the structure. The basketball players spend a good portion of their school year in and around the Dean Dome, giving it a more homey feeling. Commencements for many of the graduate schools are conducted here, giving even the non-basketball fan a sense of completion and sentimental value. Some critics dislike the Dean Dome and point to the various renovations as a waste of money because it is not an academic building.

          Globalization is showcased at the Dean Dome for every game.  Teams, and their corresponding fan bases come from all over the country to play, or witness their favorite teams play in one of college basketball’s most sacred spaces. Members of the hallowed Tar Heel nation flock from all corners of the state and the country come to the largest arena in college basketball to view their favorite team in action. Furthermore, the Tar Heels are world renowned.



UNC Men's Basketball Jerseys, including Michael Jordan's #23
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The Dean Dome is a sacred place for fanatic basketball fans who consider it the place where their gods are showcasing their mythological powers on the court. It is also a sacred place for many people as it serves as a home for one of the nation’s most storied NCAA Men’s Basketball programs featuring the greats such as Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and many more.  Countless great games have been played there and people associate these great games with the greatness of the dome itself. There is nothing quite like the intensity and passion that can be seen in a Duke Carolina game played there.



UNC vs. Duke
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The original idea of the builders at Corley Redfoot Zack, Inc. was to increase the seating capacity and improve upon the previous venue called Carmichael Arena. It serves the commercial interests of the university as more seats allows for more revenue to be generated from the increased attendances and merchandizing sales.

The Dean Dome’s function has not changed since it was originally built, but extra seating was added to accommodate the needs of the fans.   Not only serving as a legendary site for basketball games, it also provides a location for high school graduation events as well as university ceremonies and concerts.



The Dean Dome bears signs of globalization-related activities by attracting fans with all sorts of different cultural and international backgrounds.  Although basketball was invented in America it has a world wide appeal. Basketball in general has introduced new social means of interaction in countries that the sport had previously not influenced. Sports are coming less and less American and more global and this is due in part to monumental creations such as the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill.







Globalization at Work: Olympic Basketball Court
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USA vs. China in Olympic games
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Basketball reaches far East: Russia's Olympic Basketball Team
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USA STILL dominates world: Coach K and USA team after winning Olympic gold

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Then and Now- The Dean's Dome

    The Dean E. Smith Center, also known as the Dean Dome, was created in 1986 with the main purpose of housing and fitting the needs of the men’s basketball team. Because it is a fairly new building, there have not been large changes in the past twenty-four years. The Dean Dome continues to serve as the location for the men’s basketball games and practices. The larger building and amount of seating have allowed for more fans to see the games. Although the Dean Dome is primarily used for basketball, it is a multi-purpose arena, being used for other athletic events and concerts.

    In fall 2001, the weight room and locker room of the Dean Dome were completely renovated.  Additionally, a new media center was built and the Bowles Room and Educational Foundation offices were relocated to make room for new practice gym. 

   Kenan Football Stadium is similar to the Dean Dome, both house popular athletic events.  Kenan Stadium is currently being renovated to fit more fans into the stadium.

Below are some examples of the Dean Dome:

 

Inside the Dean Dome Source

Aerial Shot Source

Backside of Dean Dome Source

Also, see http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/facilities/unc-smith-center.html for pictures of the locker room, weight room, and other facilities.