Frank Erwin Center demolished; Texas Longhorns say goodbye to “The Drum”

The Frank Erwin Center was the home of Texas basketball from 1977 until the end of the 2021-22 basketball season, but now the site will be home to the expanded Dell Medical School.

The Drum, as the center was called due to its round, beige shape, was replaced by the Moody Center at the start of the 2022-23 season and has been out of use since then. On May 1, 2023, the university announced a series of demolition projects that were finally completed a full year later.

The new location, university President Jay Hartzell noted, will be part of the University of Texas Dell Medical School. The specific location will be the headquarters of the University of Texas at Austin Medical Center, which works in collaboration with the Cancer Center at MD Anderson. In a tweet sent by Hartzell, the president said the following.

“We’re not just building a traditional academic medical center. We have an opportunity, unique in Texas and only possible in a few places in the world, to build an academic medical center affiliated with a top research university and driven by innovations in technology, digital health, data science, artificial intelligence, robotics, materials science and more.”

The Drum was originally built as the home of the Texas men's and women's basketball teams, replacing Gregory Gymnasium, which currently hosts volleyball games. Additionally, the multi-purpose facility hosted many Austin concerts as it also served as the premier music arena in Texas' most music-intensive city.

The center has hosted a variety of fascinating events over its time. From basketball to graduation ceremonies to Taylor Swift and Harry Styles, the Erwin Center is an unforgettable slice of UT life for many alumni and current students.

With its official demolition, the University of Texas marks a new era in both the entertainment and medical industries.