About Galen Center
One hundred and twenty-six years ago, USC founders envisioned an on campus arena to further unify the Trojan community. On October 21, 2006, that dream became a reality with the opening of the Galen Center – new home to USC’s basketball and volleyball programs.
The center puts the Trojan teams on an appropriately impressive stage, allowing the Trojans to strut their stuff in a 255,000 square-foot arena with 10,258 seats. An attached 45,000 square-foot pavilion contains additional practice room with three sections with enough space for 4 full basketball courts or 9 volleyball courts as well as seating for 1,000 – along with space for coaches and administrative offices.
Built with the entire community in mind, the Galen Center opens its doors to youth and high school sporting events when the Trojans aren’t on center court. The venue also plays host to concerts, special commencement ceremonies, community events, lectures, meetings, shows, pageants and more.
History
Before the Galen Center, USC basketball had been played at a variety of locations, including the neighboring Shrine Auditorium stage, Pan-Pacific Auditorium in the Fairfax District, and at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena since 1959.
USC had planned to build an on-campus indoor arena for more than 100 years prior to its construction. The final push to build the new facility began in 2002, when Louis Galen, a successful banker and longtime Trojan fan, and his wife Helene donated $10 million to the new center. The Galens donated an additional $25 million to the project to have the building named after them and later upped their donation an additional $15 million to make sure that a connected practice facility would also bear their name, bringing the total donation to $50 million. Previous to this generous donation which made this practice pavilion a reality, the USC men’s and women’s basketball teams practiced at the smaller, on-campus North Gym.
Construction officially began on October 31, 2004, with a groundbreaking ceremony including Los Angeles City Council members Bernard Parks and Jan Perry along with Helene and Louis Galen. Galen Center construction cost an estimated $147 million, which includes the arena, team offices, and a state-of-the-art practice facility. The largest tax revenue would be generated by the city of Los Angeles’ 10 percent parking tax, as well as sales tax, utility users tax, business license tax, and income from advertising. In addition, two new parking structures were built: a 1,200-space structure located between the Radisson Hotel and the arena, and a second structure at the southeast corner of Figueroa Street and Exposition Boulevard. The additional parking structures also increased the available parking for both the USC campus and the nearby Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The first event, a women’s volleyball game between USC and Stanford University, took place on October 12, 2006. The first concert at the center was October 21, 2006 and featured Al Green. The first sellout crowd was the men’s basketball game against the UCLA Bruins on January 12, 2007 with an attendance of 9,682. On January 31, 2008 the USC men’s basketball game against the Arizona Wildcats set the arena’s attendance record with crowd of 10,258 in attendance.
