While news that the Jon M. Huntsman Center’s days are numbered didn’t really surprise me, it did leave me with a feeling of wistfulness.
Don’t mean to crow, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say I’ve been on hand for as many events, sporting and otherwise, at the Huntsman Center as anyone alive.
There might be someone out there, but I’d give them a good run for their money (a big reason being that I’m old).
I was a sophomore in high school when the brand new Special Events Center opened in 1969. My father worked in the University of Utah’s president’s office at the time, so I was well aware of the plans before it was built.
I used to attend games at the old Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse as a kid with my brother and sister in seats we used to refer to as “the dark corner.” But we were excited when the Special Events Center opened in the fall of 1969 with great views for everyone. My parents had seats in Section M, Row 13, and my brother and I were on the opposite side in Section Z, Row 9.
I was there for the first concert. I was there for the first basketball game. I worked in the building for a year in the ticket office. I went to several state tournament games there in high school. In my job at the Deseret News, I covered some 100 high school tournament basketball games, more than 500 University of Utah men’s basketball games, numerous NCAA basketball games as well as a few dozen women’s volleyball and basketball games and gymnastics meets. I saw John McEnroe and Pete Sampras play tennis there.
Not braggin’, just sayin’.
There were some setbacks before it opened — the tragic deaths of three workers who fell from a broken scaffold three months before opening and a flooded court from a broken pipe, two months before opening. But once it opened, it was the place for concerts, speeches, graduations and of course sporting events.
The SEC was where all the top concerts took place in Utah and I attended dozens of them, beginning with Steppenwolf, when no one thought to put any seating on the floor. Others back in the 1970s included the Bee Gees, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Linda Rondstadt, Neil Diamond, Gordon Lightfoot, Three Dog Night, Bread, Joan Baez and Roberta Flack.
The best was Elton John’s in October 1975 when he did two two-hour sets in a concert that ended after midnight. I even remember a couple of the warmup acts — a funny guy named Steve Martin and a piano man named Billy Joel.
But as memorable as those concerts were, sports were the big thing
In 1979, I was a rookie on the Deseret News staff but wasn’t one of the half-dozen staffers who were credentialed to cover one of the most memorable Final Fours in NCAA history. However, I was fortunate to attend all the games, as my well-connected father got “lucky” in the lottery for tickets and I was up close for the Magic-Bird championship, still considered one of the most famous NCAA finals ever.
As my Deseret News career progressed, I was able to cover University of Utah basketball for 20 years as the main beat writer and another 10 years doing sidebars and columns. The Huntsman Center hosted the NCAA Men’s Tournament 15 times with 81 games, third most in history, and I got to witness the majority of them.
While it was first officially known as the Special Events Center and Physical Education Complex, in 1987 the arena was renamed for philanthropist Jon M. Huntsman, who contributed a significant amount of money for upgrades.
The heyday for Utah men’s basketball was during the coaching reign of Rick Majerus. While the Utes have won 80% of their games at the Huntsman Center over the past 50-plus years, their record under Majerus in the arena from 1989 to 2004 was a remarkable 188-13 (93.5%).
In the first basketball game, on Dec. 1, 1969, in front of a crowd of 11,498, Utah beat Stanford 96-94 behind the play of Mike Newlin and Ken Gardner. Newlin, who practically lived in the arena and calls it the “Taj Mahal of basketball arenas,” was determined to make the first basket, but his buddy Gardner took the first shot. He missed, but Newlin flew in for the rebound and put it in for the first made basket.
“I’ve always been proud of that because I got the first rebound and the first basket,” Newlin told me. Some people felt that the officials were determined for the Utes to win because the Utes shot an astounding 52 free throws, compared to Stanford’s 19.
Among the most memorable games I’ve seen since at the SEC/Huntsman Center include:
- The 1970 AA state final between East and West high schools, which attracted 14,200 fans, amazing for a high school game.
- The 1979 NCAA Final featuring Magic and Larry. Enough said.
- The 1985 WAC tournament game when Wyoming threw the ball away with a 1-point lead and one second left and Utah’s Manny Hendrix subsequently sank a basket at the buzzer for a 1-point win.
- The 1996 New Year’s Eve game featuring No. 7 Utah, led by Keith Van Horn and No. 2-ranked Tim Duncan, won by the Demon Deacons. Duncan and Van Horn ended up going 1-2 in the ′97 NBA draft.
- Alex Jensen’s 16-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist game against Fresno State in 1999 was believed to be the first triple-double at the Huntsman Center, at least for Utah. A guy named Magic Johnson had a 29-10-10 game in the 1979 NCAA semifinals. Now Jensen’s returning to Utah as head coach and could break in the new arena.
- Jimmer Fredette’s 47-point game highlighted by a half-court shot to end the first half of BYU’s 104-79 victory in 2011.
A lot has changed since 1969 and it’s understandable why the university is looking to raze the current arena for a new one, with attendance for men’s basketball about half of capacity on a good day. Back then, games weren’t televised and rarely were for the next several years.
The trend now is for smaller venues with more luxury boxes, which generate more income to make up for fewer tickets sold.
Parking near the Huntsman Center has dwindled substantially and the lack of close parking has been a source of consternation among the fans, who have seen parking lots swallowed up by buildings and fields in recent years.
So although no site has been identified, I’m guessing the new arena will be more fan-friendly with better parking and seats closer to the action, with seating in the 10,000 to 12,000-seat range. While people used to say there wasn’t a bad seat in the Huntsman Center, modern arenas are built steeper with seats nearer the court.
When you live a long time, you see your old elementary school torn down, as well your old junior high school and the church you attended as a youth. Soon it will be my old high school.
While I’ll miss the place that brought so many memories, I understand all good things must come to an end, as they say. And so it is with the Special Events Center/Jon M. Huntsman Center.
