 It was originally built in 1958 as the University of Tennessee Armory-Fieldhouse to accommodate larger on-campus crowds.It originally housed 7,800 people in the elongated building, with permanent seating in the west end and temporary seating lining the rest of the arena, which was also used for the ROTC, indoor track, and other events.However, by the mid-1960s the fieldhouse was already becoming obsolete for its size, in no small part due to the Vols' rise to prominence under coach Ray Mears.