Lack of Pyramid Funding May Force Fans to Take a Back Seat

The push for the Pyramid is shifting into high gear at Long Beach State and so is fund raising for the $19-million structure.

The on-campus athletic facility, which will be home to the university’s basketball and volleyball teams, intramurals, physical education classes and athletic offices, is scheduled to be christened Nov. 30 with a basketball doubleheader.

In reality, it might be years before the Pyramid is completed; bout $5 million is still needed to finish the building project, which is experiencing cost overruns.

“We’ve constantly been revising our plans to accommodate costs,” Athletic Director Dave O’Brien said. “It’s been nerve-racking, but one of our first priorities is to open the facility.”

Construction of the Pyramid began in January, 1993, with costs estimated at $15.7 million. It is designed to seat 7,500, but thus far the university has been able to afford seating for only 4,200. About 1,200 chair-back seats will be available Nov. 30 when the 49er men play Marquette in a game scheduled to be televised by ESPN; the 49er women meet Louisiana Tech on that date as well. Bench seating will make up the majority of the seating until funds can be raised to put in permanent seating.

“I’d be less than candid if there wasn’t a time when I was concerned whether we would have to have ‘Bring Your Own Chair Night’ every night,” men’s basketball Coach Seth Greenberg said. “But I also had confidence in the university. There is no way you’re going to build a $15-million building and tell me you have to bring your own chair. That wasn’t going to happen.”

Athletic offices in the new building are also taking a back seat. Because of renovations in the physical education building, athletic department personnel recently moved into trailers vacated by the University Extension office.

Initially, there will be no offices in the Pyramid, but plans call for the volleyball and basketball coaches to be the first to move in. Eventually the rest of the athletic department will join them.

“We’re slowly targeting the other needs,” O’Brien said. “The offices will be Spartan and landscaping minimal.”

The university, which received $11 million in state money for the building of an on-campus physical education building, has raised $4.5 million from various sources, including a 12-year, $1.2 million contract with Coca-Cola.

Long Beach is searching for a donor willing to contribute $3.5 million in exchange for having the Pyramid named after their foundation or corporation.

Cost overruns would be greater had the school decided against building a lightweight space frame instead of the conventional box design of massive girders and foundations. By building a space frame, the university estimated it saved $2 million.

Located on the north end of the campus and visible from the San Diego (405) Freeway several miles away, the arena is believed to be the largest space frame pyramid in the world. The structure, which peaks at 178 feet, is 345 square feet at its base and has a wide-open interior.

The frame has more than 14,000 interconnecting tubes, consisting of subassemblies of small pyramids measuring six feet in height and 12 feet along the base.

When finished, the Pyramid will include three full-court and six half-court basketball areas and five volleyball courts. Also planned are a fitness center, hospitality meeting rooms, storage space and vendor-developed concessions.

Designer Don Gibbs of the Long Beach architectural firm of Gibbs & Gibbs said he thought of using domes and octagons before submitting his final design for the Pyramid.

“(Long Beach State) was looking for a symbol to start a new age and a new beginning,” said Gibbs, the designer of the Performing Arts Center at Long Beach State and the Long Beach City Hall. “From an architectural standpoint, a pyramid seemed to create a point of reference in the community (that) other shapes didn’t.”

Greenberg, entering his fifth season as coach, is already aware of dividends. He has been able to attract top-caliber opponents who were reluctant to play in the 1,900-seat Gold Mine in the Physical Education Building, which was built in 1956. In addition to the Marquette game, ESPN will telecast 49er home games against Nevada Las Vegas and Nebraska.

“We lost more kids over the last three years who said, ‘Coach, I like your style. You guys play good basketball. Long Beach is really a beautiful school and offers a good education. But the gym? Give me a break,’ ” Greenberg said. “I think what the Pyramid enables us to do now is get past that burden. We’ll be playing a top-20 caliber schedule and we have nothing to be ashamed of with this building. We should be able to attract anybody.”

Despite the lack of funding to complete the Pyramid, the university is wasting little time on promotion. An icon of the facility has been incorporated in the athletic department’s logo on everything from clothing and media guides to business cards and stationary.

The Pyramid logo is even painted on the walls of the Gold Mine.

“There are certain things as a coach you always remember,” Greenberg said. “The first time you beat a nationally ranked team, the first time you make the NCAA tournament and obviously there is the anticipation of playing in the Pyramid.”