Wharton Field House
Tri-Cities Blackhawks (NBL/NBA) (1946–1951) ) (1928–present)Quad City Thunder (CBA) (1987–1993) Quad City Riverhawks (PBL) (2008) Moline Maroons (Western Big 6 |
Wharton Field House is a historic arena located at 1800 20th Avenue in Moline, Illinois. It opened in 1928 and was home to the NBA's Tri-Cities Blackhawks, today's Atlanta Hawks, from 1946 to 1951. It has hosted professional teams, high school teams, concerts, and other events in its history. The approximately 7,000 seat Field House is adjacent to Browning Field, which has served as a baseball, football and track venue. Today, both Wharton Field House and Browing Field continue to serve as the home for Moline High School athletic teams. In 2004, USA Today named Wharton Field House one of the top places to watch high school basketball.[1]
Venue history
The building is named for Theodore Finley Wharton. In the 1920s, Wharton was President of the Moline High School Athletic Booster Club and organized a group, the Maroon and White Association, to raise funds for construction of a field house.[2] The field house would be adjacent to Browning Field (opened 1912) and host Moline Maroon teams. The Maroon and White Association eventually raised the necessary total of $175,000, aided by the sale of 620 $50 bonds, 100 $100 bonds and numerous bonds of higher value.[2] The building was designed by local architect William Schulzke and completed in 1928.[3] Originally named Moline Field House, it was renamed after Wharton in 1941.[3]
The facility opened with a basketball game between Moline High School and Kewanee High School on December 21, 1928.[4]
The facility received a new floor surface in 2015. The original floor had remained in place from 1928 until 1997, when it was first replaced.[5] 7000 square feet of flooring was installed with mechanical ventilation.[6]
National Basketball Association
Wharton Field House was an early home to the team that is today's
Local Moline High School basketball coach Roger Potter coached the Blackhawks briefly before being replaced by Red Auerbach.[11] Auerbach was hired by Ben Kerner as head coach for the Blackhawks in 1949, but quit when he discovered that Kerner had traded a player without consulting him. Auerbach became Coach of the Boston Celtics in 1951–52.[12] In Boston, Auerbach coached the Celtics to nine NBA titles, won 938 games and coached numerous Hall of Fame players. Auerbach later served as Boston's general manager, (drafting Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and others) building seven more NBA championship teams.[13] Auerbach's 28-29 record with the Blackhawks was the only losing season and non-playoff season of his 20-year coaching career.[14]
Continental Basketball Association
Wharton would serve as home to another professional basketball team, as the
Wharton Field House is the current and longtime home of the Moline Maroons basketball and volleyball teams. Moline High School is a member of the Western Big 6 Conference. The Moline High School graduation ceremony is held at Wharton Field House.[17]
Cultural influence
Wharton Field House and Browning Field were the subject of a 2013 book A Century of Players, Performers, and Pageants: Wharton Field House and Browning Field, Moline, Illinois, by Curtis C. Roseman and Diann Moore.[18][4]
Historic events
- Many performers and events have been hosted in Wharton Field House in its existence. Some of note are:
Entertainers:
- Political Events: 1948, Swedish
- 1959 Miss Illinois Pageant.[3]
- Fighting: World Wrestling Federation (WWF), American Wrestling Association (AWA), and other professional wrestling events were held regularly from the late 1940s to the early 1990s.[23] 1950, Wrestler Gorgeous George. Boxers: 1931, Max Schmeling and Jack Dempsey. 1950, Joe Louis. 1991, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair[3]
References
- ^ "USATODAY.com - The other great places to watch high school hoops". www.usatoday.com. February 25, 2004.
- ^ a b "moline1968.com - moline1968 Resources and Information". www.moline1968.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f "Heritage Documentaries - A Century of Players, Performers, and Pageants: Wharton Field House and Browning Field, Moline, Illinois". www.heritagedocumentaries.org.
- ^ a b Clarke, Dave (March 8, 2014). "Claiming some little-known sports history about two of Illinois' most iconic arenas". Star Courier.
- ^ Stratton, James (April 4, 2015). "Historic Wharton Field House gets a facelift". KWQC. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015.
- ^ "Wharton Field House - RussellCo - Russell". www.russellco.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
- ^ a b "Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946-1951)". www.sportsecyclopedia.com.
- ^ "The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame - Hall of Famers". www.hoophall.com. Archived from the original on 2009-08-31.
- ^ "Ben Kerner NBA & ABA Basketball Executive Record - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Bob Cousy Stats - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Roger Potter - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Red Auerbach facts, information, pictures - Encyclopedia.com articles about Red Auerbach". www.encyclopedia.com.
- ^ "Red Auerbach - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Red Auerbach biography". www.jockbio.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020.
- ^ "qcthunder.com". www.qcthunder.com.
- ^ "qcthunder.com". www.the411online.com.
- ^ "Wharton Field House/Browning Field". molineschools.org. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015.
- ^ Willard, John (February 18, 2014). "Wharton Field House and Browning Field come alive in new book". QC Varsity.
- ^ "Shadow box". navy.togetherweserved.com.
- ^ "Wharton Fieldhouse, Moline, IL, USA Concert Setlists - setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm.
- ^ "Swedish royal visits to Augustana and Illinois - Augustana College". www.augustana.edu.
- ^ [email protected], Dennis Moran, [email protected] and Laura Anderson Shaw. "Michelle Obama revs up crowd at Wharton Field House". qconline.com/.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Wrestling Events". wrestlingdata.com.