With the opening of the newly remodeled First Bank & Trust Arena, one wall became a standout amongst Jackrabbit alumni, fans, faculty and students.
Fans are first introduced to the South Wall exhibit when walking into the refurbished arena. The main display is the old Frost Arena gym court, with the SD directly in the middle.
According to Jeff Holm, senior associate AD – Facilities and Operations, some of the old floor from Frost was used to create tables that were sold at the athletic auction, as well as placed throughout First Bank & Trust Arena. Some of the blue sections of the old court were cut as memorabilia for donors and used as gifts.
The majority of the floor found its permanent location on the South Wall as a place to showcase photos and memorabilia of the past Frost Arena.
Placing an old gym court on a wall is no simple task and had to be done strategically. The crew carefully cut the wall from the floor and went through a process of attaching each gym square to the wall, while making room for the display cases as well.
A multiple-part process, the wall itself covers layers of mechanical duct work. Through the construction process, some of the third-floor rooms’ piping and duct work had to come down. The ducts could not go through the practice rooms ceilings, as they could not shut those facilities down as the athletes needed to use them at the time.
Shawn Crowley, the lead architect on the design project, said “There is a stud wall built around all that [mechanical duct and piping work] and then we have plywood on that entire wall as a backing for this trophy wall.”
They created 4ft by 4ft cabinet box that had extra bracing in the middle for extra stability. The cabinets were screwed onto the plywood wall first. Afterwards, the crew cut the Frost floor into these 4 by 4 pieces that could be trimmed and then placed on top of the boxes and screwed in.
“We tried to come up with different options not to screw through the floor but that sort of became a cost item,” Crowley said. “Since the floor is very vintage, it’s gotten scraped up, and it’s an older floor. A lot of it would be up on the wall and not really at eye level. We felt that if we could use screws similar to the color of the wood, and tried to make them as small as they reasonably could be, we thought it wouldn’t be highly noticeable.”
Having the SD logo in the center of the wall was a big desire, keeping everything from the bleachers to the floor exactly as it was during its time in Frost.
“We definitely wanted the SD interlocking logo that was in the center to be up, so that was a priority,” Holm said. “That was nerve-wracking, taking that out. Sometimes when you cut the floor, the tiles would almost stay connected but they would pop. So, cutting that mid-court logo, fortunately everything went fine and they were able to put it all together.”
The wall holds roughly a total of 250 squares, including display cases and photos of memorabilia and moments that happened not only in Frost Arena, but also a few pieces from the time when athletic games were played in the Barn.
“It was just a collaboration of people thinking ‘Okay, this is what we think the right number is for this, the right number for this, and then whatever is left over is where the gym floor is going to go,” Holm said regarding the decision of how much memorabilia would be displayed along with the floor.
The wall displays roughly 47 photos of the Pride, athletic wins and athletes, the Spirit Squad, and more photos that can be changed in and out as memories and moments happen throughout First Bank & Trust.
Each display case has a thin LED light that is right above the frame of the glass door in order to light up the pieces being displayed.
Some mementos found in the 24 display cases include various trophies won by the Jackrabbit athletes. The last basketball and basket from the final women’s basketball game is in one of its own windows. An old shot clock and parts of a scoreboard can also be found.
The wall was designed not only to showcase past achievements and memories, but also to bring in the warmth and familiarity of Frost that so many people had grown to know, love and be proud of.
“It’s amazing to see people who have had a history here, and then some people that are walking in for the first time,” Athletic Director Justin Sell said. “There is some power in design and those are the moments where you realize that.”
“We could have made it a regular wall; but to make it something that’s going to be vibrant and living for the next 40 years while we play in it and we get a set of new history, that’s the coolest part,” Sell added. “You get to see all these people that set the table for us to have success up on that wall now. They are really proud that we have advanced this program to be able to do a building like that and to reflect and grow. That’s what I think is what makes it all so special.”
