Memorial Gymnasium, at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Memorial Gymnasium is a brick arena in Beaux Arts style on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The building holds around 2,500 people and currently hosts women's volleyball and wrestling events, with an indoor jogging track on the upper floor that circles the courts below.
The building opened in 1924 as a memorial to University of Virginia students and alumni who died in World War I, funded largely by students from the classes of 1920 and 1921. It served as the home court for the university's basketball team until a larger venue replaced it in 1965.
The name of the building honors University of Virginia students and alumni who died in World War I, which gives it a meaning that goes beyond sports. Visitors attending a volleyball or wrestling match today share the space with a long tradition of student life that has filled these walls for generations.
The gymnasium sits on the University of Virginia campus and is open to visitors during scheduled events such as volleyball or wrestling matches. The seating area includes spaces for wheelchair users and over 200 chair-back seats, so it is worth checking the event calendar before your visit.
An indoor swimming pool that once occupied part of the building was converted into an indoor soccer field in 2007, a change that few visitors would guess from the outside. President Franklin D. Roosevelt also gave a speech here in 1940, at a time when the United States had not yet entered World War II.
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