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24-550: The arena was originally built in 1953 as the University of Wichita Field House by what was then the Municipal University of Wichita. It was considered several years ahead of its time because of its circular design, which gave nearly every fan a clear sight line and put the seats very close to the action. As a result, it was quickly nicknamed "The Roundhouse," a name that has stuck to this day. When Wichita joined

48-636: A Round One Entertainment complex started construction in the former J.M. McDonald / Service Merchandise / Stein Mart / Steve & Barry's /Mattress Hub Superstore/ Wright Career College /Glow Golf space. It was later confirmed that the Round One Entertainment Complex was slated to open in 2020. It was intended to open on July 1, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the store officially opened on July 18, 2020. The area around

72-610: A family of program supporters. All new seating was installed as well as a video scoreboard, and virtually every surface that was not renovated was given a fresh coat of paint. The Shocker basketball teams played at the Kansas Coliseum for the 2002–03 season while the arena was rebuilt, while the volleyball team played at the Heskett Center on the WSU campus. In December 2012, ESPN ranked Charles Koch Arena at number 10 in

96-403: A renovation to give it more of an upscale look, including escalator movements. During the summer of 2009, Mattress Hub expanded their store at the mall into the former Steve and Barry's space, and moved in mid-2010 for Wright Career College that opened in 2011. A BJ's Restaurants opened outside the mall on July 16, 2012. On September 17 of the same year, Longhorn Steakhouse would open in

120-548: A shooting happened inside the Towne East Square close to the ROUND1 establishment. There was one death of a 14-year old kid. Police captured two suspects, one aged 16 and the other 17. This all stemmed from an argument between the teenagers when eventually one of them pulled out a firearm and fired it five to six times. On August 31, 2024, a little before 6:00 PM, a fight between some teenagers caused mass hysteria of

144-512: A while. It stayed abandoned for eight years until it was demolished in 2000 to make room for Von Maur . That store would open two years later on August 3, 2002. Meanwhile, Service Merchandise closed in 1998 due to low sales, and was taken up by Stein Mart in 1999. Stein Mart had financial troubles and closed in 2002. The store was later bought by Steve & Barry's around the mid 2000s, and liquidated in late 2008, following Steve and Barry's bankruptcy. In late 2008, Towne East Square received

168-468: The 1929–30 season, the team won the national championship in Kansas City under new coach Gene Johnson (a former WSU coach) defeating San Francisco Olympic Club 29–16 in Kansas City. Playing on that team was Tex Gibbons . In the 1930–31 season, the team lost two of its players including Gibbons to Phillips Petroleum . In order to maintain amateur status, players were required to be employees of

192-532: The 1977 and 1989 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament title game. It also hosted games for the opening rounds of the 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . In addition to concerts, the arena has also hosted the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus , Disney on Ice and Champions on Ice , both as Levitt Arena and Koch Arena. American Idols Live! has performed annually at Koch Arena since 2003. Koch Arena hosted

216-473: The 2008 Kansas State High School Activities Association Class 6A state wrestling tournament. The arena also hosts numerous high school basketball games involving schools from the Wichita City League. The KSHSAA Class 6A boys and girls basketball state tournaments moved to Koch Arena from Emporia State University 's William L. White Auditorium in 2011. Henry%27s (clothiers) Henry's

240-665: The Twin Lakes Shopping Center, Towne East Square and in the early 1980s it opened a store at Towne West Square . In 1982 it closed the Twin Lakes store, the downtown store in 1984 and the Towne West store in 1988. Henry Levitt organize the Henry Clothiers basketball team in 1928–29 to provide around Barry Dunham and Ross McBurney who were on the 1925 Wichita High School East team that won

264-463: The business Henry's. He opened a new store at 420 E. Douglas two blocks west of the original store. A 1929 renovation included Wichita's first large neon store. In 1948 a store opened at Broadway and William. It was followed by one in 1954 at Douglas and Oliver which eventually expanded to two stores across from each other (referred to at the time as "Twin Corners"). During the 1970s it opened in

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288-640: The companies that sponsored him. Levitt would eventually not be able to keep up with Phillips in competition for players. The team defeated the Los Angeles Athletic Club coached by Chuck Hyatt 33–20 in the semifinals and defeated the Kansas City Athletic Club 38–14 in the finals in Kansas City. In the 1931–32 season, the team defeated Northwest Missouri State University 15–14 in Kansas City. Northwest coached by Hank Iba and starring Jack McCracken had defeated

312-423: The mall was changed heavily in recent years as several businesses and hotels were demolished for the expansion and addition of a flyover on Highways 54/400 (locally signed Kellogg). Simon has purchased much of the vacated land for redevelopment. The mall was first planned in 1972 as Kellogg Mall , but was later changed to Towne East Square. Construction began in 1973, and officially opened on August 14, 1975, and

336-525: The nation in a poll on home-court advantages in College Basketball. In January 2013, ESPN 's Jason King listed Koch Arena as the 7th best home court advantage in college basketball. Elvis Presley gave three performances at the arena with the first concert there happening on June 19, 1972. The other two times were October 7, 1974, and December 27, 1976, with the latter occurring almost seven months before his death on August 16, 1977. It hosted

360-478: The same tournament. Following a $ 6 million endowment from Charles Koch the arena underwent a $ 25 million renovation in 2002–03, popularly known as the "Roundhouse Renaissance". The old arena concourse was completely demolished and a new one built around the original playing/seating area. A portion of the seating bowl was remodeled to make for more legroom. The basketball court itself became Devlin Court , named after

384-474: The space on July 18, 2020, causing four other businesses at the mall to move elsewhere in order to accommodate the tenant expansion. Meanwhile, on December 28, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 80 stores nationwide. The store closed in March 2019. Scheels was confirmed on July 14, 2021, to replace Sears. The store opened on July 1, 2023. On December 14, 2021, it

408-610: The state championship as well as the National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament in Chicago. The two had gone to Wichita State University where it placed third and McBurney was named to the 1927 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans team. Levitt lured the two along with another WSU player Harold Davis. Dutch Lonborg coached the team to an AAU title game at Convention Hall in Kansas City where it lost to Cook's Paint 51–35. In

432-482: The state university system in 1964, the arena was renamed the WSU Field House . In 1969, the arena was officially renamed Levitt Arena after Wichita department store magnate Henry Levitt, who had recently died. Levitt's Wichita clothing store sponsored basketball team won three consecutive national Amateur Athletic Union titles in the 1930s at a time when colleges and corporate-sponsored teams competed in

456-446: The surrounding area. Wright Career College later went bankrupt on April 16, 2016; Glow Golf later replaced Wright Career College on April 29, 2017, after moving from Reflection Ridge Plaza at the west side of Wichita. In 2018, Sears announced they would be closing 80 stores, including this one, which would close in March 2019. Glow Golf Wichita then announced on Facebook that they would be closing. Round One Entertainment later took up

480-467: The team earlier in the season. In the 1932–33 season, the team played an expanded season of 50 games. It placed third in the national tournament losing to Diamond DX Oilers, 34-20 in the semifinals but beat Southern Kansas Stage Lines, 26–24 in third place game. Levitt quit sponsoring the team after the 1933 season. In 1968 after Henry died, the WSU Fieldhouse at Wichita State University

504-626: Was a family-owned clothing retailer in Wichita, Kansas from 1911 until 1993. The store sponsored the Henry Clothiers basketball team which won three consecutive national Amateur Athletic Union championships in 1930-1932 at a time when colleges, corporate-sponsored teams, and private athletic clubs competed in the same tournament. The franchise was founded as B. Levitt & Sons in 1911 by Russian immigrant Bernard Levitt. After Bernard died his sons Henry (1894-June 20, 1968), Leo (known as Buddy)(died 1978) and Isadore (1898-1985) Levitt renamed

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528-451: Was announced that Towne East Square would get a major overhaul both inside and outside of the mall. This overhaul would include the entrances getting wood and glass details and new signage, outdoor seating areas would be added, and the parking lots and entryways would get new landscaping. The parking lot also would be repaved. In 2021 it was reported that the mall's second level would get updated flooring. On March 18, 2022, at around 5:30 PM,

552-535: Was renamed Levitt Arena. The arena was subsequently renamed in 2003 for Charles G. Koch who donated $ 6 million for its renovation. Towne East Square Towne East Square is an enclosed, two-story shopping mall located in the eastern section of Wichita, Kansas , United States. Towne East Square has 122 stores and restaurants in 1,145,360 square feet (106,407.4 m ) of gross leasable area . The anchor stores are Dillard's , Round One Entertainment , JCPenney , Von Maur , and Scheels . In summer 2019,

576-455: Was the first large, modern, multi-level enclosed mall in Wichita. The original anchors were JCPenney , Dillard's , Henry's , Sears (which opened soon after the mall opened), and J.M. McDonald . J.M. McDonald liquidated in 1983 as part of parent company Wickles filing for bankruptcy, and was replaced by Service Merchandise around 1985. In 1992, Henry's closed and sat abandoned for

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