Rupp auctions off final pieces of original basketball flooring

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ)- Some solid blue fans now own a little UK basketball history after an auction involving hundreds of pieces of Rupp Arena memorabilia.

Dozens of people braved the wet weather Friday to try and get their hands on a piece of Kentucky basketball history.

Anna Bard was one of just a lucky few who walked away with one of the prized commodities a piece of Rupp Arena’s original basketball flooring.

“While it’s a piece of a floor. It’s a little more than that to us here in Kentucky,” said Anna Bard, a buyer.

The flooring sold in small square sections is a part of Rupp’s original court on which hundreds of games were played from 1976 to 2000.

“It’s a piece of history,” said Bard.

Pieces like this have been sold a few times in the past but officials say this auction will be the last.

“Because the building gets demolished as a part of the convention center expansion beginning October one,” said Bill owen, president and CEO of Lexington Center Corporation.

While there is high expectations for the new facility, people like Bard say they’re happy they get to keep the original flooring.

In Bard’s case, that also means sharing it with the community as she plans to put it inside her shop, Kentucky For Kentucky, in Lexington.

“And have a couple basketballs there and hopefully people can come down and you know bounce a basketball and maybe take a photo on the original Rupp Arena flooring that most of us have watched so many games,” said Bard.