Building Excitement : Long Beach State Promoting Basketball Teams, Athletic Department With Pyramid Scheme

Preparation for tonight’s inaugural game in The Pyramid--the most anticipated event on the Long Beach State campus since, well, anyone can remember--unfolded with the amount of chaos one might expect from a school that is rarely an attention-grabber outside city boundaries.

About 200 cheerleaders, band members and school officials moved without precision last week on the pyramid-shaped arena’s floor. To the outsider, this display might have looked hopeless. From Athletic Director Dave O’Brien’s half-court view, however, he’s witnessed few things as beautiful.

And he’s not alone.

Long Beach officials, coaches and students are ecstatic about the men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams’ new home, and everything surrounding its opening. The athletic department displays its pride and joy, albeit incomplete, to the public in a men’s basketball game at 9 p.m. against Detroit Mercy, televised nationally on ESPN.

“Standing there and looking around, well, it just made me feel terrific,” O’Brien said. “For the first time, I really felt the dream is a reality. (Today) is going to be a day of tremendous pride for the campus and community.”

Hyperbole? Try to find a dissenting voice.

A 1,900-seat gym, nicknamed “The Gold Mine,” had served as the main on-campus facility since 1954. The 49ers believe The Pyramid, located on the north end of campus, will help to put them on the national athletic map of premier sports facilities.

The payoff, they say, comes in broader community support, improved recruiting and the ability to attract higher-profile opponents. Long Beach tied its athletic future to the approximately $22 million facility, and early returns signal a sound move.

Tonight’s game, which will feature a laser show before tip-off, has been sold out since Monday afternoon. Officials said they already have sold 1,510 season tickets for the 5,000-seat arena, which they hope to expand to 7,500 seats within three years.

Almost $230,000 in advertising space, mostly in banners and signs along the arena’s walls, already has been sold. The goal was to reach $250,000 by season’s end.

“In terms of our ticket sales, we’re extremely pleased,” said Bill Shumard, assistant athletic director administration/development. “We set some very aggressive goals going in, and we’ve been able to pretty well reach, and sometimes exceed, them.”

According to 49er officials, their building is the only true pyramid structure in California and one of only three in the nation. The others are in Las Vegas and Memphis, Tenn.

Long Beach-based architect Donald Gibbs said he was charged with designing a building that “signifies a turning point, or a new beginning” in Long Beach athletics, while preventing prohibitive costs. The school wanted an icon for the future, Gibbs said, and a pyramid seemed the right choice to establish the reference.

Costs for completion were estimated at approximately $16 million when construction began in January, 1993. The facility, being built by Nielsen Construction Company of San Diego, also includes an educational conference center, fitness center and athletic offices.

It features four lower-level seating sections that are hydraulically lifted above the playing surface to accommodate physical education classes scheduled around events. When the seats are lifted, the beechwood floor has room for three full-court and six half-court basketball areas, and five volleyball courts.

The Pyramid peaks at 178 feet, or 18 stories, and is 15 feet below ground level. Officials said it is believed to be the largest space-frame pyramid in the world. Its exterior is made of cobalt blue corrugated steel and can be seen from several miles away.

Exposed on the interior, The Pyramid’s frame comprises more than 18,000 steel tubes and connection modules, joined by about 160,000 bolts. The structure’s base is perfectly square and 345 feet on each side, which should help during earthquakes, Gibbs said.

“Its shape and lateral strength,” Gibbs said, “makes it more resistant to ground shaking than a rectangular shape.”

And it helped save money too.

Officials said they’ve saved about $2 million with the lightweight space frame as opposed to a conventional box design that relies on huge girders and foundations.

Still, cost overruns have presented challenges.

The state allocated $11 million to the university and Long Beach has raised more than $5 million, including a $1.2-million contract with Coca-Cola to advertise in the building. O’Brien said Long Beach is still about $4 million to $5 million short of completing The Pyramid, and it could take several years.

One plan is to raise the needed funds by naming the building after a corporate sponsor or individual. A corporation is currently considering a $3.5-million proposal, said Don Dyer, executive director of The Pyramid.

Athletic officials are temporarily housed in trailers because of renovations in the physical education building. They probably won’t be able to move into offices in The Pyramid this year.

None of this, though, has tempered the enthusiasm. Officials have plastered a logo depicting The Pyramid on anything not nailed down: business cards, media guides, stationary.

“This is not our official opening, this is just our first game--period,” Dyer said. “We know we still have a lot of work to do.

“But the excitement surrounding the building has surpassed anything we thought possible. It’s absolutely crazy around here right now, and this never would have happened if we built a conventional box like everyone else.”

Recruits notice too.

Despite previously woeful facilities, Long Beach managed to develop and sustain strong athletic programs. With The Pyramid, the programs have the potential to shoot even higher.

Men’s basketball Coach Seth Greenberg said the building already has paid off from a competition standpoint.

Guard James Cotton, last season’s Big West Conference freshman of the year, chose the 49ers over bigger programs, partly because he would play in The Pyramid as a sophomore. Redshirt freshman forward Akeli Jackson, whom Greenberg believes might become a star, also was swayed by The Pyramid’s, ah, power.

“There’s no doubt James and Akeli wouldn’t be here without The Pyramid,” Greenberg said. “A lot of good players eliminated us because of The Gold Mine.”

Likewise, women’s volleyball Coach Brian Gimmillaro sees many advantages in the building.

“It’ll be great for recruiting and great for volleyball,” said Gimmillaro, who led the 49ers to the 1989 and ’93 NCAA titles. “Because of its high ceiling, this gym will be a landmark for volleyball. There will be some incredible matches played in The Pyramid over the years.”

And, officials hope, a lot more.