P1FCU-Kibbie Activity Center
The P1FCU-Kibbie Activity Center is a multi-use facility created and maintained for the benefit of the entire University of Idaho student body. In addition to being the home of the University of Idaho Athletic Department, the “Dome” is the annual site of hundreds of large and small campus, community and vendor events and activities such as the annual Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, commencement ceremonies, entertainment events and more. Tens of thousands of patrons visit the Dome each year for athletic competitions, orientations, graduations, music concerts and a place to have fun. It is a destination of choice for vendors and organizations seeking a quality venue location in Northern Idaho.
Building History
The P1FCU-Kibbie Activity Center is a multi-purpose, indoor athletic stadium and event venue in Moscow, Idaho, on the campus of University of Idaho. Also known as the Kibbie Dome, it is home of the Idaho Vandals and is used for intercollegiate sports competition including: football, basketball, soccer, tennis and indoor track and field.
Its iconic dome structure is well known in the state of Idaho and beyond for its unique shape and function. It was named after William H. Kibbie, a former U of I student who donated $300,000 towards the building of the facility. Kibbie, who attended University of Idaho in 1936, said this: “It is a university in the classic and real sense of the word…and has maintained its position throughout the years as a leading institution of higher education. The enclosing of the stadium complex should serve to support and further the program of the university in all its aspect.”
The structure represents an engineering feat with its arched roof that spans a distance of more than 400 foot and at the center height is 144 feet from the surface of the turf. The floor area is 93,550 square feet.
The concrete football stadium opened in October 1971 with a grass infield. A year later the second phase was completed and artificial turf was installed to allow for a covered stadium. During the third phase of construction, following the 1974 football season, the roof and vertical end walls were added in ten months and the stadium re-opened as an enclosed facility in September 1975.
The Kibbie Dome can be reconfigured to host a variety of events. One configuration, the Cowan Spectrum, is home to the Vandal basketball programs and provides seating for 7,000 spectators. During the fall 2017 season, the Kibbie Dome also became the home field for the Vandal women’s soccer team. It is currently the only NCAA indoor soccer field in the country.
Over the years, the Kibbie Dome has received and continues to receive significant state, university, alumni and student financial support to keep it structurally progressive and functional — to meet the diverse needs of the programs it serves. In 2011 the Litehouse Center was constructed with premium seating thanks to the generous donation of Bud and June Ford. Student funds still play a critical role in the on-going operations of the complex.