Recreation Building, or Rec Hall as it is more commonly known, is a field house located on the University Park campus of the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

. It was opened on January 15, 1929, and is still in use. Previously, Penn State's indoor

sports teams A sports team is a group of individuals who play sports (sports player), usually team sports, on the same team. The number of players in the group depends on type of the sports requirements. Historically, sports teams and the people who play ...

played in a building known as the Armory, which was razed to allow expansion of the Willard Building. The men's and women's

basketball 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 (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

teams moved to the

Bryce Jordan Center The Bryce Jordan Center is a 15,261-seat multi-purpose arena in University Park, Pennsylvania, United States, on the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University. The arena opened in 1996 and is the largest such venue between Ph ...

in 1996 but the gymnastics, volleyball, and wrestling teams continue to compete at Rec Hall. The well-known

Nittany Lion Shrine The Nittany Lion Shrine is a large mountain lion sculpture carved by Heinz Warneke located at the University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University. History 20th century The Nittany Lion Shrine at Pennsylvania State University was dedic ...

is located nearby this 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 had designed the University of Pennsylvania's

Palestra The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 Sou ...

. The Colonial Georgian design of Rec Hall was chosen to "harmonize" with other new structures on campus. Rec Hall has undergone many renovations over its history. In recent history, the drop ceiling that was installed in the 1960s was removed in the late 1990s 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 were also improved. 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 Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

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 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Easte ...

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), 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 Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

, 1943-55 (129);

St. Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister G ...

, 1948-61 (99) and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, 1970-76 (98). Penn State teams have won five national championships in Rec Hall: boxing (1929 and 1932), wrestling (1953) and men's gymnastics (1960 and 2007).Facilities - about Rec Hall
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References

External links

Official Rec Hall Site
{{Coord, 40.795780, -77.869399, type:landmark, display=title College volleyball venues in the United States College wrestling venues in the United States Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Sports venues in Pennsylvania Defunct basketball venues in the United States Penn State Nittany Lions and Lady Lions basketball venues Pennsylvania State University campus 1929 establishments in Pennsylvania Sports venues completed in 1929 Wrestling venues in Pennsylvania