January 10, 2015
Cal U Convocation Center (Capacity: 5,000)
California, PA
California (PA) Vulcans vs Indiana (PA) Crimson Hawks
Final Score: 45 – 69
.
This game marked my first time visit to the Division II level of collegiate athletics as I saw the highly controversial Convocation Center at the California University of Pennsylvania. The state public school mostly known as Cal U has had notable development and expansion the last 30 years. Part of their vision was a new arena and despite the small size of the town and campus, the school pressed on with the building of a $59 million, 5,000-seat arena that went against a feasibility study and public protests. What has followed is debt taken on by Cal U, yearly losses at the facility, events taking place at well below capacity and a fired president. It has not been a good start for this 3 year-old arena and while the Convocation Center is a very nice building, the overlying theme is why spend so much and build it so big? But, we are here to judge the arena experience and we’ll do just that. As for the Vulcans basketball team, they play in the PSAC and have won 8 conference titles since the formation of the league in the 1950s (their last championship came in 2008). Also notable is their two Final Four appearances in the 90s.
Prestige Ranking: 1.5 out of 5
Location
The former mining town now small borough of California is in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, sitting scenically along a bend in the Monongahela River. With a population of 6,400, it is a small, sleepy place, especially when the students are away. Campus makes up the eastern half, while the center of town is on the western half and there really is not much besides a couple restaurants and bars. With the kids on break, I drove through California after the game on a Saturday evening around 7 PM and the place was dead. My dinner choice was a restaurant called “Spuds” and no one else was there.
Location Ranking: 3 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
When it comes to getting here, the relative close proximity to a pair of major interstates (I-70 and I-79) helps the accessibility and the town is Exit 32 on Rt. 43, which unfortunately is an annoying tollway. Be aware that if driving from downtown Pittsburgh like I did, drivers need to use the stoplight-filled Route 51 to reach the tollway. Once in town, the Convocation Center is along the river and the campus roads are a little odd to reach the parking in back of the building. Though the signs say “Permit Only”, it is fine to park here for basketball games.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8
Exterior
From the river parking lot, it is hard to know which building you are going to. After finding the biggest one and walking towards it, not until reaching the front entrance from campus does the design become notable. As a mix of brick, beige siding, glass windows and fanned-out sections, the tall building looks decent. Adding a personal touch is the school logo on the front window and a video board with graphic flames (for Vulcans) that light up surprisingly bright at night.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Concourse
The main foyer feels much more like a student union than a basketball arena, but nonetheless, it is large and modern. Undulating wooden panels on the ceiling and a huge school logo are the most prominent features. Doors straight-ahead lead to floor access for the main arena, while stairs on the side go up to the primary level. Upstairs, looking over the seats and court below, is a spacious end area that goes off on either side to a more natural concourse. Even though a little identity is missing, this concourse section is excellent. There is room for multiple concession stands, but only one was open for the basketball game.
Concourse Ranking: 4.5 out of 5
Food
Slightly more was actually offered at CalU than the Atlantic 10 game I saw in Duquesne a few hours earlier as this menu featured cheeseburgers and chicken tenders. Otherwise, it was fairly pedestrian with other options including hot dogs, fries, nachos, pretzels and candy.
Food Ranking: 3 out of 8
Interior
The Convocation Center is designed in a U-shape with one section of red seats. The open end features a practice court and a black curtain disguises that. One presidential suite sits behind Section 33 and it was empty during my visit. Along with the red coloring, a metallic silver is popular too as many of these panels sit on the top wall and some of the high ceiling elements have this as well. Overall, a simple, good design for an arena.
Interior Ranking: 9 out of 14
Scoreboard
This is almost an ideal scoreboard as the only thing it lacks is a better picture. Each of the four sides are dominated by the video screen and the bottom features score/time, while at the top it says “California”. Corner panels spell out “Vulcans” vertically. For additional player stat information, a flat board is located near the corner of each side wall.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
Outside of Hamer Hall, the old gym for Cal U, there is a great bronze statue featuring the starters of the 2004 Women’s National Champions team. Not sure why they didn’t just move this to near the Convocation Center entrance. Most of the displays are inside, in one of three cases within the main atrium and these range from team achievements, memorabilia to opening night pictures. That’s pretty much it as the gym is devoid of any banners, which is my standard for achievement.
Displays Ranking: 3 out of 6
Cost
Free parking, $5 tickets and cheap food…good times. The only oddity is the strange prices for the concessions, which include tax making for annoyingly uneven amounts ($4.85 for a cheeseburger, $3.06 for French Fries, $2.04 for a bottled soda).
Cost Ranking: 8 out of 8
Fan Support
Game attendance for this event was about 250-300 (announced at 478) and it seems the crowd ranges from barely 100 to maybe a season high of 500-600 actual people. Obviously, that makes a 5,000 seat arena look quite empty.
Fan Support Ranking: 1 out of 8
Atmosphere
When I walked in, a women’s game was wrapping up and I heard lots of noise before reaching the inside of the arena. The fans in attendance were really into it and I was expecting good things from the upcoming Men’s game. Not even close. It was dead as a doornail with the only noise coming from the players on the floor. My thinking is that many of the women on the roster were local, so they had a lot of family and friends (the game also terrific and I really enjoyed watching them). On the men’s side, just a few people clapped after each basket. Now, to be fair, the game was a complete blowout and the students were on break. I tried to find some videos of what it is like with the students on-campus for a more fair ranking, but it didn’t seem much better. At least there was a pep band.
Atmosphere Ranking: 2 out of 14
Other Stuff
So is the town of California named after the state? Yes it is, settlers chose the name after the new territory following the gold rush…..Not only has the new arena been problematic for the University, but other issues have taken place in the last few months that are not good for Cal U. Enrollment decreased in the 2014-2015 school year and jobs were cut, plus five players from the football team were arrested following a brawl and the Vulcans had to forfeit a crucial late season game as a result…..While everything is going wrong at California, it is all going right for their opponent, Indiana (better known as IUP). They also built a new arena during the same year and it was a bit cheaper and a bit smaller. Their facility has been much more successful and turned a profit so far. Looking forward to checking them out in the near future.
Game
For my first Division II game, Cal U did not exactly give a good promotion. The Vulcans were very sloppy in the beginning and their 7 turnovers and 8 missed shots helped IUP build a 20-2 lead halfway thru the first half. That was essentially the game as the rest of the contest was played at a lower gear with Indiana cruising to a 69-45 win. Drew Cook finished with 16 points for the home side.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
