The exterior of Pioneer Hall in 2015 | |
| Location | Denton, Texas |
|---|---|
| Owner | Texas Woman's University |
| Operator | Texas Woman's University |
| Capacity | 1,800–2,700 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1996 |
| Opened | 1997 |
| Tenants | |
| TWU Pioneers (basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball) | |
Coordinates: 33°13′40″N97°07′36″W / 33.227687°N 97.12671°W
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.
Pioneer Hall is a building on the campus of Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas, that is the home of the TWU Pioneers basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball teams as well as numerous fitness facilities, classrooms, and offices.
Texas Woman's University is a co-educational university in Denton, Texas, United States, with two health science center branches in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, it is the largest state-supported university primarily for women in the United States.
Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 113,383, making it the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 200th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
The Texas Woman's Pioneers are the athletics teams that represent Texas Woman's University, located in Denton, Texas, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. Even though TWU accepts male students, only female sports are sponsored. The Pioneers compete as members of the Lone Star Conference in basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball, and as an independent in gymnastics. The gymnastics team competes in the Midwest Independent Conference which comprises NCAA Division I, II and III institutions.
Groundbreaking occurred on March 8, 1996, and the $15.5 million facility was completed by spring 1997. [1] It was dedicated in 1998, and, as of 2013, was the most recently constructed building on TWU's campus. [2] The facility was designed as a three-story, 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) brick building that features a prominent gray-domed rotunda. [1] [3]
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building. The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome.
Pioneer Hall is the home of Kitty Magee Arena, a multipurpose gymnasium that hosts the University's intercollegiate basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball teams. The Arena also hosts other athletic events, including TWU intramural and recreational sports, high school basketball and volleyball, and summer camps. [1] [4] In addition, it is the site of TWU's commencement ceremonies. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Magee Arena's standard seating capacity is 1,800, although this can be increased up to 2,700. [1] [3] The facility, which was named in honor of TWU athletics innovator Kitty Winter Magee, has been renovated twice; in 2005, when new lighting was installed, and in 2009, when its floor was replaced. [1] [3]
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is a covered location for gymnastics, athletics and gymnastic services. The word is derived from the ancient Greek gymnasium. They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centers, and as activity and learning spaces in educational institutions. "Gym" is also slang for "fitness center", which is often an area for indoor recreation.
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one or more one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.
Gymnastics is a sport that includes exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, back, chest and abdominal muscle groups. Alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence and self-discipline are mental traits that can also be developed through gymnastics. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance skills
Pioneer Hall also includes an indoor swimming pool, racquetball courts, and a running track, in addition to serving as the home of TWU's Kinesiology Department. [2] Other TWU departments and programs housed in the building include Conference Services, Dance, and Fitness and Recreation. [1] Its fitness facilities are available to TWU students without charge and are also open to fee-paying members of the public. [2]
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or paddling pool is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground or built above ground, and are also a common feature aboard ocean-liners and cruise ships. In-ground pools are most commonly constructed from materials such as concrete, natural stone, metal, plastic or fiberglass, and can be of a custom size and shape or built to a standardized size, the largest of which is the Olympic-size swimming pool.
Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek is credited with inventing the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velocity and control. Unlike most racquet sports, such as tennis and badminton, there is no net to hit the ball over, and, unlike squash, no tin to hit the ball above. Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders being out-of-bounds.
In addition to Magee Arena and the swimming pool, the first floor includes an athletic training room, team locker rooms, and classrooms (including seminar rooms). The second floor is home to TWU's Intercollegiate Athletics offices as well as the Department of Kinesiology; also on the second floor are academic offices, additional classrooms, the racquetball courts, a climbing wall, and a weight room. The third floor features two large aerobics and dance studios. [1]
A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used is a thick multiplex board with holes drilled into it. Recently, manufactured steel and aluminum have also been used. The wall may have places to attach belay ropes, but may also be used to practise lead climbing or bouldering.
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness. It is usually performed to music and may be practiced in a group setting led by an instructor, although it can be done solo and without musical accompaniment. With the goal of preventing illness and promoting physical fitness, practitioners perform various routines comprising a number of different dance-like exercises. Formal aerobics classes are divided into different levels of intensity and complexity. A well-balanced aerobics class will have five components: warm-up, cardio vascular conditioning, muscular strength and conditioning, cool-down and stretching and flexibility. Aerobics classes may allow participants to select their level of participation according to their fitness level. Many gyms offer a variety of aerobic classes. Each class is designed for a certain level of experience and taught by a certified instructor with a specialty area related to their particular class.
Dance is a performing art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. This movement has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements, or by its historical period or place of origin.
