Mizzou Arena also includes offices for the Men's and Women's basketball programs, the Athletic Administration and Mizzou Arena's Building Operations. For the basketball programs the arena also offers locker rooms, a 24-hour practice gym,[8] weight and training facilities including a hydrotherapy pool, video classrooms with audio and video editing capabilities, and an academic study center.
Missouri basketball coach from 1967 to 1999, Norm Stewart, is the namesake of the arena's playing court.[9]
History
After protracted negotiations,[10] a third of the venue's $75 million cost was donated by Walmart heiressNancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill. It was initially named Paige Sports Arena after their daughter (who attended the University of Southern California rather than Mizzou, to much alumni and student criticism regarding the name), but the Lauries gave up their naming rights due to a term paper scandal involving that daughter shortly after the arena's dedication.[11][12][13][14] The name of the arena's playing surface, Norm Stewart Court (in honor of Mizzou's longtime men's coach), was carried over from the basketball team's previous home at the Hearnes Center with the arena's opening in 2004.[9]
In September 2014, the university announced renovations to the arena including new scoreboard infrastructure, improvements to the facility's entryway and upgrades to the team's locker room coming from a $1.5 million donation.[15]
In June 2017, a former Mizzou athletics staffer was arrested on two felony charges after he allegedly drove a Volkswagen Passat through Mizzou Arena and onto Norm Stewart Court early that morning, causing an estimated $100,000 in damages.[16]
^Sherbo, Marisa (16 September 1997). "Arena plans move forward without Lauries" donation". The Maneater. Retrieved 14 June 2015. MU administrators say they still are committed to building a new basketball arena, even though they will have to do it without the $10 million donation from Bill and Nancy Laurie.
