At the heart of Liberty University’s campus stands the Vines Center: a striking circular building seating up to 10,000 people. For students at Liberty, this gathering place is where spiritual formation takes place multiple times a week for Convocation and Campus Community.
In addition to these consistent events, the Vines Center is also the venue for entertainment events like Coffeehouse. A staple of Liberty life, the Vines Center is considered by many to be the heart of gatherings on campus. However, many students may be unaware of the rich history behind the birth of this location on campus.
The Vines Center was originally intended to be a stadium for sporting events and was the home of Liberty’s basketball and volleyball teams from 1990 to 2020, according to the Liberty Flames website. During its construction, Charles “Boe” Adams, a friend of the Falwell family, donated $1 million for the construction effort.
Adams was a friend and business partner of the Williams family, university benefactors who the football stadium is named after, according to Jerry Falwell Jr. in a 2010 archival story. Adams also shared his expertise on business and finance with Jerry Falwell Jr., giving him guidance on how to successfully run a university like a business.
“I worked day to day with Boe and his team in the early ’90s, and what I learned from Boe about business and finance helped me develop a philosophy of management that I still use every day,” Falwell said in the article. “Boe was frank and to the point. He didn’t sugarcoat anything.”
Because of his part in bringing the Vines Center to life, Adams was given the opportunity to name it. He chose to dedicate it to his wife’s parents, Odie and Minnie Vines. To this day, a portrait of the couple hangs inside the Vines Center.
Since its completion Oct. 22, 1990, the Vines Center has gone through numerous renovations and updates. Originally featuring a domed ceiling, the Vines Center operated as a basketball stadium until the opening of Liberty Arena in 2020.
Nicknamed “the furnace,” Vines featured several concession stands, vending machines and stadium seating. The state-of-the-art stadium contributed to Liberty’s establishment as a larger university and provided the electricity that made the basketball games so popular.
“The game-day experience at Vines Center reflects this, providing the unique and wild atmosphere that the team deserves,” Stadium Journey writer Jared Goodman said in a 2019 blog post.
One of the reasons basketball games were moved from the Vines Center was to facilitate a better home court advantage.
“Going to a smaller venue will immediately increase the atmosphere and home court advantage for the Flames,” A Sea of Red writer Jon Manson wrote in a 2020 story. “Every seat in the new Liberty Arena will be a much more prized possession, for students and ticket buyers alike.”
The domed ceiling remained until 2020, when it was lowered to provide better acoustics for Convocation and to repair leaks and other structural problems, according to Jacob Couch in a 2021 news story.
“The new flatter, standing seam metal roof is 30 feet lower than the previous overall height, so the building now complements the architecture of the new adjacent Liberty Arena and other campus structures,” Couch said.
In addition to structural changes, the seats have been renovated several times over the years to accommodate Liberty’s growing student body and to provide audience comfort.
The building continues to serve as a campus gathering place for Convocation twice per week and Campus Community on Wednesday nights, in addition to hosting other events throughout the year.
Combs is a feature reporter for the Liberty Champion.