Kansas Basketball Loses a Legend in Allen Fieldhouse Architect Warren Corman

The University of Kansas and Kansas basketball lost a true visionary this week with the passing of Warren Corman on Thursday at the age of 99.   

He was the last living architect who helped create the historic Allen Fieldhouse, which the Jayhawks have called home for 70 years.

"Warren Corman played an integral role in what Kansas basketball is today as one the architects who designed Allen Fieldhouse," said Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self in a news release. "Cindy and I truly enjoyed getting to know Warren and Mary over the years and listening to Warren tell stories about his role with the University. He had such a wealth of knowledge about everything KU. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mary and his family. KU lost a treasure in Warren."

Corman was an architecture engineering graduate from KU (Class of 1950) who was part of the original seven-man team that helped design the fieldhouse along with James Canole, Frank Johnson, Charles Marshall, Robert Jokish, Robert Schober, and Thornton Beck.

Design of the building started in 1950 and construction began in 1952. It took another three years before Allen Fieldhouse was completed and opened to the public on March 1, 1955, when the Jayhawks beat in-state rival Kansas State 77-66 in front of an overflow crowd of more than 17,000 people.

The building was officially dedicated during a ceremony that night to KU’s long-time head coach Forrest “Phog” Allen who was forced to retire by state law at the time and could no longer coach the team.

Oddly enough, Corman was on the project team that helped design K-State’s Ahearn Field House which opened in Manhattan just four years prior in 1951. The construction of Ahearn partially fueled Allen’s desire to make KU’s home for basketball bigger and better.

In an interview Corman did with Self in October last year to celebrate the building’s 70th anniversary, Corman talked about how he and Allen worked together during the design and construction phase to ensure it was up to Allen’s liking.