Never been to Cameron Indoor but for those that have
- Thread starter pittizit
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The Palumbo Center is a better facility. RMU's new arena will be as well. Cameron is a dump. Its just "historic." When you walk into it, it looks like some HS hallway, then you go through a door and there it is, what looks like a tiny arena and you think "there's 8000 seats in this place."
The arena (or gym is a more accurate description) is really old school which I guess is part of its charm
This is all true. It really is a dump with some seats that have little to no sight line.
That brings up a question-
Is Palumbo getting those renovations that they were calling for? I read something a while back that they might be put on hold?
I don't think. Reading between the lines, I think Keith Dambrot nixed them. He probably wanted the money spent in other ways. I really thought Duquesne's plan was foolish. For the level of player they are recruiting, paying a few extra grand for a good coach and assistants is worth more than putting some lipstick on the AJPC
From the Cheap Seats; boiled to the small, it's not the arena, it's the team that plays in the arena that counts.
Cameron is awesome. But the hallways are literally like an old high school from the 30s. I’ve been in facilities that are just as old (Palestra, Franklin Field) and have the same charm, but at least a decent concourse. But when it comes to energy and atmosphere Cameron is 3rd behind The Palestra and MSG before they renovated a couple years ago
I walked past Cameron with my father a few years ago and he actually had to stop and point out what it was.... Looks like a library almost.
I would have never thought in a million years thats where Duke actually played basketball
I would have never thought in a million years thats where Duke actually played basketball
Love old gyms like Cameron, the Palestra, and Fitzgerald. They reek history and are intimate in ways arenas can never be. Cameron is what Fitzgerald would be if Pitt had decided to preserve it and pump money into it (not that I'd advocate that). For a gym, and that's what Cameron is, it is very nice. They've done a great job dressing up the surrounding concourses and with additions like their Hall of Fame. What they've accomplished in deciding not to go with a more modern stye arena is to maintain a historic throwback that ends up being very unique in today's world of college basketball, at least for a power program, both in terms of preservation, history, and atmosphere and it definitely sets Duke apart and succeeds, in my opinion, in conveying the special history of the program. It also completely fits in with their campus style and atmosphere, the way athletic venues used to be designed to do. I definitely like it better than the Dean Dome, which I've found to be run-of-the-mill blasé. Even if it lacks modern features and conveniences of modern arenas, Cameron will always be among the list of Hinkle, Rupp, Allen, and the Palestra, and that is a good place to be.
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