The Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center is the University of Delaware's primary location for convocations, concerts, and banquets, and also serves as the home for UD's men's and women's basketball and volleyball. This 5,000-seat facility, opened in 1992, is part of the David M. Nelson Athletic Complex, which includes 23,000-seat Delaware Stadium, the Delaware Field House, the 2,000-seat Delaware Diamond, numerous athletic fields, the Delaware Ice Skating Science Development Center at the Rust Ice Arena, and an outdoor swimming pool.
The Bob Carpenter Center also includes a comfortable glass-walled reception lounge area, the Bob Carpenter Club, which provides a viewing area into the Delaware Stadium with visual and physical access to the Acierno Arena. It also includes a state-of-the-art scoreboard color video message center, and a 203-panel tongue-and-groove 60'-by-112' maple arena floor.
Other special features of the facility include a 120-person football locker room, men's and women's basketball locker rooms, administrative offices, a state-of-the-art weight room, and numerous athletic training rooms. Directly accessible to the locker room area are three classroom meeting areas and a 120-seat lecture hall, used for team meetings, classes, and press conferences.
The Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center is named in honor of the late R.R.M. "Bob" Carpenter Jr., a longtime University board trustee member, athletic benefactor, and former Philadelphia Phillies owner. The arena section of the Bob Carpenter Center is named in honor of Frank E. Acierno, a local businessman and developer, whose contribution of $1 million dollars was the largest single donation to the Bob Carpenter Center. Formally dedicated on November 10, 1992, the facility was designed by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc., of Kansas City, MO., one of the top architecture/engineering firms in the country. Delaware firms involved in the BCC's development were Tevebaugh and Associates of Wilmington, and Landmark Engineering, Inc. and Healy Management Services, Inc., both of New Castle.
