The building San Diegans call the Slim Gym was a Christmas present: at a 1997 holiday party, Sidney Craig surprised his wife - weight-loss entrepreneur Jenny Craig - by announcing a 10-million-dollar gift in her name to build it. The Jenny Craig Pavilion, at 5998 Alcala Park Way on the University of San Diego campus, opened on 5 October 2000 as the 5,100-seat home of the Toreros. The arena replaced a gym with a famous embarrassment: the old USD Sports Center's advertised 2,500-seat capacity turned out, on an actual count, to be closer to 1,500. The 17.5-million-dollar, 101,000-square-foot pavilion - built by Sundt to designs by Mosher Drew in the university's signature 16th-century Spanish Renaissance style - fixed that permanently, its white walls and red-tile roofline making it one of the handsomest mid-major arenas in the country. The tenants are USD's Division I men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball programs in the West Coast Conference; the building has hosted four WCC basketball tournaments, and its bowl seating keeps sightlines tight for a room its size. A 2024 multi-million-dollar upgrade - funded again by Jenny Craig - added a four-sided Daktronics centre-hung videoboard, LED ribbons, new lighting and sound and remodelled locker rooms. The non-athletic calendar earns the "pavilion" name: commencements, convocations, concerts and headline speakers - including a visit from the Dalai Lama - use the arena as the university's largest gathering space, a campus centrepiece overlooking Mission Bay from USD's hilltop. Practical notes: the campus sits off Linda Vista Road above Interstate 8, with the Morena/Linda Vista trolley station down the hill; game parking uses the adjacent structures, and the views across Mission Bay from the arena's west approaches are a genuine bonus.

Type: Stadium / Arena

Address: 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA, United States, 92110

Website: https://usdtoreros.com

Cover Charge: 1

Capacity: 5100

Opening Date: 05/10/2000

Serves Food

Accessible