Rec Hall

Recreation Building
Rec Hall
	Rec Hall in 2006.
Location	Curtin Rd; University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802
Owner	Pennsylvania State University
Operator	Pennsylvania State University
Capacity	6,846 (men's gymnastics, wrestling); 6,469 (women's gymnastics, volleyball)
Construction
Broke ground	1927
Opened	January 15, 1929
Expanded	1963-64; 1953
Construction cost	$572,260
Architect	Charles Z. Klauder
Tenants
	Penn State Nittany Lions (NCAA); Men's gymnastics (1931–present); Women's gymnastics (1965–present); Women's volleyball (1976–present); Men's volleyball (1977–present); Wrestling (1929–present); Men's basketball (1929–1996, 2013 (One game), 2015 (Two games), 2024 (One game)); Women's basketball (1965–1996, 2024 (One game))

Last updated November 01, 2024

Recreation Building, often referred to as Rec Hall, is a field house on the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University. The building was opened on January 15, 1929, and remains in active use. Penn State's gymnastics, volleyball, and wrestling teams compete in Rec Hall. The university's men's and women's basketball teams moved to the Bryce Jordan Center in 1996.

History

20th century

Prior to the opening of Rec Hall in 1929, Penn State's indoor sports teams played in a building known as the Armory, which was razed to allow expansion of the Willard Building. The Nittany Lion Shrine is located nearby the building. The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, commonly known as THON, was held in Rec Hall from 1999 to 2006, but was subsequently moved to the Bryce Jordan Center.

The architect was Charles Z. Klauder, who designed the University of Pennsylvania's Palestra in Philadelphia. The Georgian design of Rec Hall was chosen to harmonize with other new structures on campus.

Rec Hall has undergone several renovations over its history. In the 1990s, the drop ceiling that was installed in the 1960s was removed, and the building's original roof line was restored, exposing the open steel truss ceiling and upper windows. Along with this, lighting and building acoustics also have been improved.

21st century

In 2005, electronic LED scoreboards were installed and lower seating bowl bleachers were replaced. Renovation of Rec Hall's south wing was completed in 2006, including expansion of the student fitness center.

The largest crowd in Rec Hall history, 8,600, witnessed the men's basketball team defeat Virginia 93–68 on December 5, 1973. Three other notable men's games were: a 74–71 loss to Jerry West-led West Virginia Feb. 15, 1958 (WVU had been AP No. 1 for much of the 1957–58 season), the 1991 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournament championship, won by Penn State, and a double overtime 88–84 loss to No. 1-ranked Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, Feb. 9, 1993. Rec Hall is also known as a classic home court advantage, as the women's volleyball team holds the NCAA volleyball record for home match winning streaks (94),^[1] which ranks in the top five of any home court winning streak for any sport, men or women's, and is only outranked by the basketball trio of Kentucky, 1943–55 (129); St. Bonaventure, 1948–61 (99) and UCLA, 1970–76 (98).^[2]

Penn State teams have won five national championships in Rec Hall, including in boxing in 1929 and 1932, in wrestling in 1953, and in men's gymnastics in 1960 and 2007.^[3]

The men's basketball team has played sporadically in the Rec Hall since leaving, playing once in 2013, twice in 2015, and once in 2024. The women's basketball team returned to the Rec Hall for one game in 2024.^[4]

Related Research Articles

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The 2009–10 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team represented Pennsylvania State University. Head Coach Ed DeChellis was in his seventh season with the team. The team played its home games in University Park, Pennsylvania at the Bryce Jordan Center, which has a capacity of 15,000, for the twelfth consecutive season. This season marked team's the seventeenth consecutive season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Nittany Lions entered the season as the defending NIT champions.

The Penn State Ice Pavilion was a 1,350-seat ice arena on the campus of The Pennsylvania State University located in University Park, Pennsylvania. The ice arena included an NHL regulation sized 200' x 85' ice sheet as well as a 45' x 55' studio ice sheet.

The Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling program is an intercollegiate varsity sport at Pennsylvania State University. The wrestling team is a competing member of the Big Ten Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Nittany Lions compete at Rec Hall in State College, Pennsylvania, on the campus of Pennsylvania State University. The Nittany Lions have claimed 13 team National Championship titles and 55 individual NCAA National Championship titles.

The 2015–16 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Head coach Pat Chambers coached his fifth season with the team. They played its home games in University Park, Pennsylvania at the Bryce Jordan Center, with two games at Rec Hall, and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 16–16, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in tenth place. They lost to Ohio State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.

The 1995–96 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team represented Pennsylvania State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1995–96 season. The team was led by long-time assistant Jerry Dunn, serving in his first-year as head coach. Penn State played its home games in University Park, Pennsylvania – the first six at Rec Hall before opening the brand new Bryce Jordan Center on January 11, 1996. After winning the first 13 games of the season, the Nittany Lions climbed as high as No. 9 in the AP poll, and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Penn State lost to Arkansas in the opening round to finish the season with an overall record of 21–7.

The Nebraska–Penn State volleyball rivalry is a college women's volleyball rivalry between the Cornhuskers of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the Nittany Lions of Pennsylvania State University. Both programs are among the most successful in the history of NCAA Division I women's volleyball. Prior to 2011, the teams competed frequently as out-of-conference opponents and met nine times in the NCAA tournament. Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten they have typically played twice annually as conference opponents. Nebraska leads the series 28–11.

References

External links

Official website

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[1] Nittany Lions Topped Duke, 3-1

[2] Oct. 3, 2000 volleyball match notes

[3] Facilities - about Rec Hall

[4] "Men's and Women's Basketball Teams to Host Return to Rec Games This Season". October 14, 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Penn State Nittany Lions basketball
Venues	Armory (1896–1929) Rec Hall (1929–1996) Bryce Jordan Center (1996–present)
Culture & lore	Legion of Blue Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

v t e Penn State Lady Lions basketball
Venues	Rec Hall (1964–1996) Bryce Jordan Center (1996–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics