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The home of Long Beach State basketball and volleyball, the Walter Pyramid has become a nationally recognized icon for the university and the city of Long Beach. Because of its dramatic appearance, unique multi-purpose capability, and its lure for television production, the Walter Pyramid is one of the finest collegiate athletic facilities in the western United States.
On March 5, 2005, the pyramid officially became named the Walter Pyramid, thanks to the generous donations presented to the university by Dr. Mike and Arline Walter. Long-time supporters of the school, Walter's gift to athletics and academics was the most significant single gift in LBSU Athletics history. Officially opened on November 30, 1994, the Beach rolled to a 71-64 win over the University of Detroit before a crowd of 5,021 and an ESPN television audience.
The distinctive cobalt blue exterior has permanently altered the city's skyline. It rises 18 stories above the north campus and can be seen for miles. It has provided a quantum leap in both the image and effectiveness of the Long Beach State athletics programs, with an immediate impact on our fan base, scholarship fundraising, recruiting, and revenue generation. Nearly 200,000 visitors pass through the Walter Pyramid's entrances annually.
Designed by Long Beach architect Don Gibbs and built by the Nielson Construction Company of San Diego, The Walter Pyramid cost approximately $22 million.
The Walter Pyramid measures 345 feet on each side of its perfectly square base. Its floor space accommodates nine volleyball courts, three full basketball courts, and four additional half-basketball courts on the "activity" level.
The building also features a state-of-the-art conference center, The Pointe, a first-rate venue for academic lectures, workshops, seminars, and banquets. The Walter Pyramid also features Long Beach State's strength and conditioning center.
One of four true pyramids in the United States (others are located in Las Vegas, San Diego, and Memphis), the Walter Pyramid's most unique feature is its cantilevered seating system mounted on moveable platforms. When the floor level is required for physical education classes, each 81-ton seating platform can be raised hydraulically to expose over 39,000 square feet of beechwood flooring.
The Walter Pyramid is believed to be the largest space-frame structure in North America. Its infrastructure utilizes 18,000 steel tubes and connection modules, joined by over 160,000 three-quarter-inch bolts. If the tubes were laid end-to-end, they would form a pipe 26 miles long.
The Walter Pyramid has hosted several NCAA-sponsored events, including the NCAA Men's Volleyball National Championships four times, most recently in 2024, and the 2003 NCAA Women's Volleyball Regional Semifinals and Finals.
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MIKE & ARLINE WALTER On March 5, 2005, The Pyramid officially became named The Walter Pyramid, thanks to the generous donations presented to the University by Dr. Mike and Arline Walter. Long-time supporters of the school, the Walters gift to athletics and academics was the largest single gift in Long Beach State athletics history. A former Dean of the CSULB School of Business, Dr. Walter began his relationship with Long Beach in 1993. Before his appointment at CSULB, Dr. Walter was the Dean of Business Administration for 10 years (1983-93) at Saint Mary's College of California. Dr. Walter earned his bachelor's (1958), master's (1960), and Ph.D (1966) from the University of Iowa. He worked at the University of Michigan for four years (1969-73) and entered private business after that, serving as Senior Vice President of Levi Strauss & Co. for four years. Arline spent numerous years in the business world, including 20 years of senior technical management experience in application development and production operations across diverse industries. For 10 years (1995-2004), she served as Vice President and Manager of the Technology and MIS Division for Union Bank of California. Before that, she was a Vice President for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco. A 1963 graduate of the University of Iowa, Arline earned her master's at Iowa in 1964 and her Executive MBA in 1993 from Saint Mary's College of California. |
