BOWLING GREEN — If only the "The House That Roars" could actually speak.

Imagine the tales that Anderson Arena could have after more than 50 years on this earth, which constitutes a full life for this brick-and-mortar, steel-and-timber home for Bowling Green State University's men's basketball team. And the old barn on Ridge Street got a second life — and new stories to tell — in the late 1970s as the home for the women's basketball and volleyball teams when the school began sponsoring those sports.

Oh, Anderson Arena indeed has lived a rich and interesting life. The old arena could talk about nearly any indoor pursuit you can think of, including:

- The Harlem Globetrotters bringing the strains of "Sweet Georgia Brown" to entertain local fathers and sons — and the sons of those sons — for decades.

- Thrilled concert-goers witnessing an eclectic assortment of acts — from Aerosmith to the Carpenters to the Black Eyed Peas. In fact, a 1977 Bob Seger concert featured as the warm-up act a then-unknown group known as Foreigner in its first North American show.

- BGSU students stepping onto the dais to claim their hard-earned degrees as Anderson Arena annually hosted the school's commencement exercises.

- The building coming alive each March when high school teams — and their fervent followers — made the trek to the old barn to compete in the regional tournament, making dreams of a trip to Columbus and a potential state title come true for a select few.

But Anderson Arena became "The House That Roars" thanks to BGSU basketball.

That sport gave the building life back in 1960, when the antiquated Men's Gym was deemed too small for the burgeoning powerhouse being built by coach Harold Anderson. The new facility was officially christened Memorial Hall to honor students and alumni who had lost their lives in military service.

Memorial Hall could seat roughly 5,300 fans, almost double the 2,800 that were the max at the Falcons' former home. Best of all was that the new facility was nestled smack-dab in the middle of a growing campus, just north of BG's former football home, University Field.

It didn't take long for Memorial Hall to start roaring. After BG won its first game in its new home, whipping Hillsdale 79-45 on Dec. 1, 1960, the Falcons' first sellout came on Jan. 7, 1961, in a 62-61 loss to Ohio.

In late January, 1963, Harold Anderson announced he would soon retire as basketball coach. University president Ralph Harshman quickly announced that the arena inside Memorial Hall would be named in honor of the coach who won 362 games in his 21 years at the school.

But "The House That Roars" was never about one man — or one team, for that matter. It was about one university becoming one voice to make one building roar.

Anderson Arena could speak to a number of big games and big victories against big teams. No. 2-ranked Loyola of Chicago fell to the Falcons in 1963. Two years later, BG knocked off nationally ranked St. Joseph's. In 1975, there was a 121-101 track meet in which the Falcons outran Houston.

Click here to see an Anderson Arena photo gallery.

How powerful are those memories? Powerful enough to nudge longtime Falcon fan Bill Frack to remember those times — and recently endow the men's basketball program with a $10 million gift to try and bring them back.

Those memories are more than just ghosts, scattered amongst the banners in the rafters honoring times and teams long gone. Witness a 1990 game against Michigan State, which came one season after the Falcons had spoiled the opening of the Breslin Center by upsetting the Spartans in their first-ever contest there.

Jud Heathcote and his team took the Anderson Arena floor ranked No. 5 in the country, but they left it on the short end of a 98-85 upset that led Heathcote to speak the oft-quoted phrase, "I think you've just seen the last time you'll ever see a Michigan State team in a MAC gymnasium."

Heathcote followed that quote with a tongue-lashing directed at Mid-American Conference officiating, which he felt was the cause of the loss, not the noise or fans. And there are rumors that current MSU coach Tom Izzo has forgotten Heathcote's promise and will bring a Spartan team to the Stroh Center in the near future.

Michigan recently learned a lesson about playing at "The House That Roars" when a raucous crowd willed the Falcons to a six-point win over the Wolverines in 2001.

"It certainly was a difficult place to play," then-Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "It's my first time here, and I'm hoping I don't have to return. It's an outstanding environment for college basketball."

What made it special?

"The mayhem in the stands across the way was unbelievable," Dan Dakich, BG's coach at the time, said after the game. "I guess you're not supposed to see that stuff as a coach, but I saw it — and I thought it was awesome."

A visiting player once remarked that some seats were so close to the court, "the fans can pick the hair off your legs."

It was that same home-court advantage that aided the development of the women's program into a MAC powerhouse.

The walls of the venerable arena still echo with reminders of the difference the building made in the first-ever NCAA women's tournament game it hosted, a contest between BG and Cincinnati played on March 15, 1989.

The two teams had played earlier in the season at UC, and the Bearcats won that contest by three points. In the rematch, 4,100 fans packed Anderson Arena, and Cincinnati coach Laurie Pirtle admitted afterwards that the large crowd played a role in the Falcons' 10-point win.

"There was so much enthusiasm, and the noise was unbelievable," she said. "Everyone's so close to the floor. It definitely affected us — we're not used to anything like that."

Anderson Arena also has served as the home for the Falcon volleyball team.

Under coach Denise Van De Walle, whose career record is 508-366 in 28 years, BG has claimed three MAC regular-season titles as well as an NCAA tournament appearance in 1991, not to mention back-to-back MAC East Division crowns in 2000-01.

Soon both BG basketball teams and the volleyball squad will play at the $36 million Stroh Center being built just a 3-point jumper away.

It was inevitable that "The House That Roars" would be replaced. After all, how long can an arena with only one rest room for each sex stay open? The Stroh Center will have better rest rooms — not to mention better seats, better sightlines, and better food. In short, it will provide a better overall experience for fans.

Better memories?

That's hard to say.

Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com or 419-724-6481.

First Published February 27, 2011, 1:26 a.m.