College Avenue Gymnasium

Last updated

College Avenue Gymnasium
The Barn
College Avenue Gymnasium, New Brunswick, NJ.jpg
College Avenue Gymnasium in 2020
College Avenue Gymnasium
Location130 College Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
OwnerRutgers University
OperatorRutgers University
Capacity 3,200 (approx.)
Opened1932
Tenants
Rutgers College Rec Services
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (volleyball)

College Avenue Gymnasium is an athletic facility on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

It is the second gymnasium built on the site. The first was built in 1892 on the site of College Field, the former RU football field. The first collegiate game of American football was played on the site on November 6, 1869, with Rutgers beating Princeton University, 6–4 (roughly 42–28 under today's scoring).

The old Ballantine Gymnasium burned down in 1930, [1] and this replacement building opened in 1932. [2] Officially, it is the College Avenue Gymnasium, but it is known to the RU community as "The Barn." Most of the seating is in the form of a balcony on three sides, upstairs from the court level, giving the gym one of the most intimate settings in Eastern college basketball while it was RU's main venue for the sport. Seating capacity has been approximately 3,200 throughout its existence. There is an annex attached to the side of the gym that sport courts for basketball, indoor soccer and a variety of other sports. The Barn has a rock climbing wall and provides willing students with lessons. The Barn also has a room used solely for those interested in kickboxing or mixed martial arts in general. There is also a room with multiple Olympic weightlifting platforms complete bumper plates, which are in kilograms, for both beginners and advanced lifters. Both the kickboxing room and the Olympic weightlifting room are deemed "The Power Gym" and are located off of The Barn's main weight-room.

Rutgers reached its only NCAA Final Four in the 1975–76 season, going undefeated until losing to the University of Michigan in the National Semifinal. Home games at The Barn became festive affairs, with the crowd yelling so loudly that paint chips fell from the ceiling. RU knew it was time to build a bigger home court, and the Rutgers Athletic Center was built across the Raritan River in Piscataway in time for the 1977–78 season. It was renamed the Louis Brown Athletic Center in 1986, and subsequently became Jersey Mike's Arena in 2021.

The College Avenue Gym remains the home of RU's volleyball team, as well as gym facilities for students, and there are no plans to replace it. Besides volleyball, their most recent tenant was the Rutgers Wrestling team for a practice location, as well as their home arena, but moved over to the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center in September of 2019.

Plaque describing constitutional convention College Avenue Gymnasium, New Brunswick, NJ - plaque.jpg
Plaque describing constitutional convention

The current New Jersey State Constitution was written and adopted in a constitutional convention, led by Rutgers President Robert Clarkson Clothier, held here in 1947. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State University of New York at Cobleskill</span>

The State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill is a public college in Cobleskill, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It began as the Schoharie State School of Agriculture in 1911 and joined the SUNY system in 1916. SUNY Cobleskill is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the New York State Education Department registers all academic programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt University)</span> Basketball arena at Vanderbilt University

Memorial Gymnasium is a multi-purpose facility located in Nashville, Tennessee. Usually called Memorial Gym or simply Memorial, the building is located on the western end of the Vanderbilt University campus. It was built in 1952 and currently has a seating capacity of 14,326. It serves as home court for the school's men's and women's basketball programs, and will also serve as the home of Vanderbilt's upcoming women's volleyball program, scheduled to begin play in 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Clarkson Clothier</span>

Robert Clarkson Clothier was the fourteenth president of Rutgers University, serving from 1932 to 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jersey Mike's Arena</span> Multi-purpose arena at Rutgers University

Jersey Mike's Arena, commonly known as the RAC, is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Piscataway, New Jersey on Rutgers University's Livingston Campus. The building is shaped like a truncated tent with trapezoidal sides on the north and south ends. It is home to the men's and women's Rutgers Scarlet Knights basketball teams as well as the wrestling and gymnastics teams. Previously, the university used the 3,200-seat College Avenue Gym from 1931 to 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payne Whitney Gymnasium</span>

The Payne Whitney Gymnasium is the gymnasium of Yale University. One of the largest athletic facilities ever built, its twelve acres of interior space include a nine-story tower containing a third-floor swimming pool, fencing facilities, and a polo practice room. The building houses the facilities of many varsity teams at Yale, including basketball, fencing, gymnastics, squash, swimming, and volleyball. It is the second-largest gym in the world by cubic feet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutgers University–Newark</span> Regional campus of Rutgers University

Rutgers University–Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's State University. It is located in Newark. Rutgers, founded in 1766 in New Brunswick, is the eighth oldest college in the United States and a member of the Association of American Universities. In 1945, the state legislature voted to make Rutgers University, then a private liberal arts college, into the state university and the following year merged the school with the former University of Newark (1936–1946), which became the Rutgers–Newark campus. Rutgers also incorporated the College of South Jersey and South Jersey Law School, in Camden, as a constituent campus of the university and renamed it Rutgers–Camden in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center</span>

The Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, often referred to as the MAC Center and the MACC, is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. The building is primarily used as an athletic venue that is home to five Kent State Golden Flashes varsity athletic teams, including the men's basketball and women's basketball teams. The arena also hosts women's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and wrestling as well as commencement exercises, speakers, and concerts throughout the year. The building houses the offices of the Kent State Athletic Department and the coaches of each of the university's varsity athletic teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jadwin Gymnasium</span> Multi-purpose arena at Princeton University

The L. Stockwell Jadwin Gymnasium is a 6,854-seat multi-purpose arena at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the Princeton Tigers college basketball teams. It replaced Dillon Gymnasium, the home of Princeton volleyball and wrestling, as the fifth main basketball arena on campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Hill Gymnasium</span>

Rose Hill Gymnasium is a 3,200-seat multi-purpose arena on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in The Bronx, New York City, New York. The arena, which opened in 1925, is the oldest on-campus venue currently used primarily for an NCAA Division I basketball team and the second-oldest overall. Fordham's volleyball team also used the gym. The Rose Hill Gymnasium has a gothic façade that fits in well with the rest of Fordham University's buildings. The interior design features two high-tech video boards, bleachers that surround all four sides of the court, and additional elevated seating along the courtside. ESPN named this gym one of the four “cathedrals” of college basketball. At the time it was built, it was one of the largest on-campus facilities in the country, earning it the nickname "The Prairie." The Rose Hill Gymnasium has been the site of many legendary college and high school basketball games, including the final high school game of Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. During World War II, it was also used as a barracks. New York City Mayor Ed Koch lived in these barracks for a time. As early as 1970 an effort, headed by famed Fordham alumnus Vince Lombardi, was made to build a new arena. This effort ended with Lombardi's death and the move of head basketball coach "Digger" Phelps to the University of Notre Dame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics–Recreation Center</span>

The Athletics–Recreation Center, also known as the ARC, is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It serves as the home court for Valparaiso Beacons men's and women's basketball teams as well as the volleyball team. It opened in 1984 as an addition to Hilltop Gym, the oldest parts of which date to 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stopher Gymnasium</span>

David R. Stopher Gymnasium or Stopher Gym is a 3,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Thibodaux, Louisiana, United States, on the campus Nicholls State University. It is named for David R. Stopher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walsh Gymnasium</span>

Walsh Gymnasium is a multi-purpose arena in South Orange, New Jersey on the campus of Seton Hall University. The arena opened in 1941 and can seat 1,316 people. It was home to the Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team before they moved to the Meadowlands in 1985 and then Prudential Center in 2007. Currently, the arena hosts the women's basketball and volleyball teams, but continues to host men's basketball for preseason exhibitions, postseason invitational games such as early rounds of the NIT, and occasionally a regular season non-conference game if there is a conflict with Prudential Center's event schedule. The building is part of the Richie Regan Recreation & Athletic Center, and, like the school's main library, is named for Rev. Thomas J. Walsh, fifth bishop of Newark and former President of the Board of Trustees.

Marvel Gymnasium was a 3,000-seat multipurpose gymnasium in Providence, Rhode Island. It was home to the Brown University Bears basketball team as well as other teams. The gymnasium included a basketball court and seating, a second-floor running track, squash and handball courts, a wrestling room, a boxing room, and a fencing room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dillon Gymnasium</span>

Dillon Gymnasium is an on-campus multi-purpose athletic facility on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It was built in 1947 to replace University Gymnasium, which had burned to the ground in 1944. It houses a 1,500-seat gymnasium, squash courts and a pool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voorhees Mall</span>

Voorhees Mall is a large grassy area with stately shade trees on a block of about 28 acres (0.11 km²) located on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University near downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey. An eclectic mix of architectural styles, Voorhees Mall is lined by many historic academic buildings. The block is bound by Hamilton Street, George Street (north), College Avenue (south) and Seminary Place (west). At the mall's western end, across Seminary Place, is the campus of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, whose history is intertwined with the early history of Rutgers University. Across Hamilton Street is the block called Old Queens, the seat of the university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Gymnasium</span> United States historic place

The Florida Gymnasium is a historic building located on the campus of the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville. It opened in 1949 as a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena and served as the home court of the Florida Gators men's basketball team and other UF indoor sports programs for over thirty years, acquiring the nickname of "Alligator Alley" during that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Activities and Recreation Center (UIUC)</span>

The Activities and Recreation Center, more commonly known as the ARC, is an athletic facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for current university students, members and guests. According to the university, Activities and Recreation Center is "one of the country's largest on-campus recreation centers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sobrato Center</span> Athletic venue in California, US

The War Memorial at the Sobrato Center in San Francisco, California is an athletic venue on the University of San Francisco (USF) campus. It contains War Memorial Gymnasium and serves as home for the San Francisco men's and women's basketball teams as well as the women's volleyball team. It also houses athletic department offices and training facilities for the university's other athletic teams. It is currently the oldest basketball venue in the West Coast Conference. It is popularly known as "The Hilltop" because of USF's position on the summit of Lone Mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Dome Athletic Center</span>

The Golden Dome Athletic Center in Newark, New Jersey is the hub of Rutgers–Newark athletics and teams, the Scarlet Raiders. It is located at 42 Warren Street between Downtown and University Heights. Built in 1977, it seats 2,000. The facility includes two gyms, five outdoor tennis courts, four racquetball courts, an exercise/dance studio and a 25-yard, eight-lane pool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wills Gymnasium</span>

Wills Gymnasium, often referred to as Wills Gym, was a multi-purpose athletic facility on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. Construction started in 1924 and the building was dedicated in 1925. It was the first dedicated gymnasium on the KSU campus, which had opened in 1913. Before the opening of Wills Gym, physical education classes and the intercollegiate and intramural sports teams used a variety of spaces for games and classes, both on campus in other buildings and off campus. The main gym seated approximately 4,000 people and the basement level included an indoor pool, locker rooms, and bowling alley. At the time, its capacity made it one of the largest facilities in the region. The building served as the primary home of the university's athletic teams and physical education department until 1950, when the Men's Physical Education Building opened. Wills Gym was the first permanent home of the Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team, and was also the original home venue for wrestling, men's swimming, men's and women's gymnastics, women's volleyball, and women's basketball.

References

  1. "January 7, 1930: Fire Destroys Most Of Ballantine Gymnasium". Rutgers University.
  2. "1932: College Avenue Gymnasium, "The Barn," Opens". Rutgers University. The College Avenue Gymnasium is built on the site of the first intercollegiate football game.
  3. "Robert C. Clothier, Rutgers President, 1932 to 1951". Rutgers University.

Coordinates: 40°30′12″N74°27′10″W / 40.5033°N 74.4527°W / 40.5033; -74.4527