The Pete Hanna Center was opened in November of 2007. The first regular-season event was held on Nov. 9, 2007 when the Samford volleyball team played host to Eastern Kentucky. The women's basketball team played its first game in the building on Nov. 13, and the men's basketball team first played in the arena on Nov. 15.

The building is named for Pete Hanna, the owner, president and chief executive officer of Hanna Steel Corporation in Fairfield, Ala. Hanna played football at Samford in the 1950s. He scored one of the first touchdowns in what would become Seibert Stadium in 1958.