W.D. CARMICHAEL JR. AUDITORIUM

K-19199

William Donald Carmichael, Jr. Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels women's basketball team.

The arena opened in 1965 as Carmichael Auditorium. It is named for William Donald Carmichael, Jr., a popular former school vice-president and brother of All-America basketball player Cartwright Carmichael. Although it was apparent by the early 1960s that the men's basketball team needed a new home to replace old Woollen Gymnasium, the state refused to fund a completely new arena. As a result, Carmichael was built as an annex to Woollen; it shares the older facility's western wall. It originally seated just over 8,000 people, but expansions over the years brought its final capacity to 10,180 by the time the men left for the Dean Smith Center in 1986. After the most recent remodel completed in 2009, capacity is 6,822.

Carmichael was known as one of the loudest arenas in the country while the Tar Heel men played there, largely because of a low roof and a student section that ringed the court. During a 1982 game against the Virginia Cavaliers, it was so loud that the Virginia players could not even hear their own names being announced prior to the start of the game. In part due to this formidable home court advantage, the men had a record of 169-20 (.894) in just over 20 seasons there.

Used (1971) 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" standard size chrome postcard.

Dist. by North Carolina News Co.