Bud Walton Arena

Bud Walton Arena (also known as the Basketball Palace of Mid-America) is the home to the men's and women's basketball teams of the University of Arkansas, known as the Razorbacks. It is located on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas and has a seating capacity of 19,368, which is the fifth largest for an on-campus arena in the United States.

The arena features Bud Walton Arena Razorback Sports Museum on the ground level about the history of Razorback basketball, track and field, baseball, tennis and golf.

Construction

The arena is named after James "Bud" Walton, co-founder of Wal-Mart, who donated a large portion of the funds needed to build the arena. Walton purportedly gave 15 million, or around half of the construction cost. Construction of the arena took only 18 months, a short time considering the size of the undertaking.

When it was built, it was touted as a larger version of Barnhill Arena, the team's former home. In hopes of recreating the formidable home-court advantage the Razorbacks enjoyed at Barnhill, architect Rosser International built an arena that, as it put it, had "more seats in less space than in any other facility of the same type anywhere in the world."

James "Bud" Walton

James Lawrence “Bud” Walton (December 20, 1921 – March 21, 1995) was the brother of Sam Walton and co-founder of Walmart.

Biography

Early life

James Lawrence Walton was born on December 20, 1921 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. As a child, he worked on his family's farm. He attended David H. Hickman High School–located in Columbia, MO – and then the Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri. He served as a Navy pilot in World War II.

Career

Bud and his brother, Sam, began their career in the retail industry working in the Ben Franklin Stores franchise system. His first store was opened in Versailles, Missouri. Bud and Sam co-founded Walmart in Arkansas in 1962.

He is the namesake of the Bud Walton Arena at the University of Arkansas.

Death

Walton died following surgery for an aneurysm in Miami, Florida on March 21, 1995, at the age of 73.

Personal life

Walton was married to Audrey Walton. They had two daughters, Ann and Nancy.

See also

References

Walton

Walton may refer to:

People

Places

Canada

New Zealand

Pakistan

United Kingdom

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. The word derives from Latin harena, a particularly fine/smooth sand used to absorb blood in ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome. 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 lowest point, allowing for maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a large number of spectators.

The term arena is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl, but such a facility is typically called a stadium, especially if it does not have a roof. The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event. Football (be it association, rugby, or gridiron) is typically played in a stadium while basketball and ice hockey are typically played in an arena, although many of the larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the Duke University basketball team would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There is also the sport of indoor American football (one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the gridiron-based game that is designed for the usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including box lacrosse and futsal/indoor soccer, also exist.