Jeppesen Gymnasium, also known as Jeppesen Fieldhouse, was a multi-purpose sports facility on the campus of the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The facility was the first home to the

Houston Cougars men's basketball The Houston Cougars men's basketball team represents the University of Houston in Houston, Texas, in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I men's College basketball, basketball competition. They compete as mem ...

team, and later home to the Cougars women's volleyball team. Located next to

Robertson Stadium John O'Quinn Field at Corbin J. Robertson Stadium (often referred to as simply Robertson Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, located on the campus of the University of Houston. It was the home of the Houston Cougars football and wom ...

, the facility was demolished in 1996 to make room for renovations of Robertson Stadium such as the scoreboard.

Planning and construction

Prior to the construction of Robertson Stadium, the University of Houston campus had been built nearby in 1939. In the summer of 1941, construction began on Jeppesen Gymnasium as part of a joint project between the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

and the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest Public school (government funded), public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the ci ...

. It was constructed simultaneously with nearby

Architecture and features

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

design style, Jeppesen Gymnasium's structure consisted of two stories and a basement. It was built of reinforced concrete and steel with masonry walls. Buttresses, columns, and steel trusses supported a sound-absorbing roof. On the south end of the structure were four entrances to a lobby that led to the basketball court itself.

References

{{Houston Cougars men's basketball navbox Sports venues demolished in 1996 Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Houston Cougars basketball venues Demolished sports venues in Texas Basketball venues in Houston Demolished buildings and structures in Houston Defunct indoor arenas in Texas 1942 establishments in Texas Sports venues completed in 1942 1996 disestablishments in Texas