Built in 1977, the Mercyhurst Athletic Center (MAC) is home of the Lakers and the athletic department. The MAC was expanded to its present facility in 1991. The building is 12,000 square feet and seats 1,800. In color scheme and spirit, it definitely is the home of the blue and green! The MAC features a hardwood floor installed in 1986 for men's basketball, women's basketball, men's volleyball and women's volleyball. The MAC is also home to Laker wrestling, which was added a few years ago. It also is headquarters for the sportsmedicine classrooms, offices and training facilities that were added to the east of the main building a few years ago.
In 1982, a rowing complex for the Mercyhurst crew teams was installed - one of 12 in the entire country. The Lakers Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1996 and photos of its honorees grace the entryway to the MAC.
When built, the campus center, as it was originally called, sported a blue, rubberized floor and a multipurpose stage. The stage area was never used for its original purpose. The rubberized floor was a trendy composition that met with great complaints by visiting teams who were not used to the surface, thereby increasing the possibility of injuries; it was replaced with hardwood in 1986. From 1978 to 1989 the center was the site of Mercyhurst graduations until commencement was moved to the Warner Theater in downtown Erie.
The college's old gym was used for physical education classrooms until the late '60s and for intramurals until the campus center was built. That old gym was the site used by Hollywood director and film star Tom Hanks as the setting of the talent show in his 1996 film, "That Thing You Do!"
