Meehan Auditorium

Meehan Auditorium was dedicated at the Brown-Princeton hockey game on January 6, 1962. Named the George V. Meehan Auditorium for the donor of half a million dollars for its construction, the facility filled the need for a skating rink and large auditorium for indoor functions, and was the first building of the new athletic plant at Aldrich-Dexter Field. The building was designed by Perry, Shaw, Hepburn & Dean; the consulting engineers were Nichols, Norton and Zaldastani; the contractor was the Gilbane Building Company. Its 208-foot diameter steel Schwedler dome covers an ice area of 200 by 85 feet, the maximum size for intercollegiate hockey. There are 2100 permanent seats painted brown, red and yellow, the colors in the Brown coat of arms. For special events chairs can be added in the rink area to bring the seating capacity to about five thousand. The auditorium lobby was given by Matilda Graubart Irving in memory of Dr. Julius Irving. The ice-making equipment was provided by the Burrillville Racing Association in honor of B. A. Dario.