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B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena
The B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena has been the home of the Railsplitters and Lady Railsplitters since 1991. Since then, it has become known as one of the top basketball facilities at the Division II level. The arena replaced the Mary E. Mars Gymnasium, which had been the home of Lincoln Memorial University basketball since 1948.
The 87,000 square-foot complex seats 5,009 for basketball contests, with another 1,000 portable seats available for other events. The distance from the playing floor to the roof is 40 feet, the equivalent of a two-story building. The arena is 230 feet (east to west) and 282 feet (north to south). It contains over 81,866 square feet of floor space, and over 4-million cubic feet of space.
LMU’s athletic offices are located on the lower level. Offices located here are the administrative offices, men's and women's basketball and men's and women's soccer. The LMU Athletes Hall of Fame, the Turner Room and a classroom are also located on the lower level and are often used by campus and community groups for meetings and other functions.
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The recently refurbished training room and weight room are located on the lower level within easy access of the playing floor and air-conditioned dressing rooms. The men's basketball dressing room underwent extensive renovations in the summer of 2011 and the women's was renovated in 2016.
The arena also serves as a practice facility for the soccer, lacrosse, tennis, baseball and softball teams. An auxiliary gym contains batting cages for baseball and softball.
Over the years, several concerts as well as district and regional tournaments have been held in the arena. All of the LMU spring and fall commencement services and pinning ceremonies have been held there since 1991.
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The new scoreboard which
was installed in 2016
A new state of the art scoreboard was installed in December 2016 and made its debut in the LMU basketball doubleheader versus Newberry. It is four-sided with 10mm SMD LED displays measuring 8.4' x 12.6'. It also features a 26' x 12' diameter 10mm LED ring that wraps around the board's lower half. In its entirety, the board is 12.3 feet tall and 17.5 feet wide, and it will be hung from the center of Tex Turner Arena, directly over midcourt. The scoreboard itself will be virtual, allowing full-screen video and photos to be displayed during stoppages in play in addition to being interfaced with Stat Crew statistical software which allows updated in-game player and team statistics.
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The upper level contains a ticket office and other offices as well as the Dean Bailey Trophy Room, which houses trophies and other memorabilia dating back to the 1920’s and is a memorial to former coach Dean Bailey. The upper concourse also is open to the public as a walking track and is extremely popular with the local community.
Entrances to the building are located on the north, south, and east ends. There are a total of 24 entrance doors to the arena (handicap access is available on both levels).
The arena was named after former LMU football and basketball standout B. Frank "Tex" Turner, who donated the funds for it’s construction. Work on the multi-million dollar facility began on May 7, 1988, and on Feb. 2, 1991, the Railsplitters and Lady Railsplitters held their first contests in the facility when they hosted The University of Alabama in Huntsville in a doubleheader. The women won 112-95 and the men lost 85-69.
GAME DAY PARKING/SEATING GUIDE
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