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VUU's Barco-Stevens Hall named unique by NCAA
June 28, 2005
Barco-Stevens Hall, the home court by every Virginia Union University basketball and volleyball squad since 1947, has been named by the NCAA as one of the most unique facilities in all of intercollegiate athletics.
Barco-Stevens Hall, first built in 1939 for the New York World's Fair, was listed in the June 20, 2005, edition of the NCAA News as one of 13 athletic facilities around the country which are worthy of the "unique" distinction, including Ingalls Rink at Yale University and Cousens Gymnasium at Tufts University.
"While some institutions are tearing down the old to make way for the new, others are celebrating their uniqueness by restoring or renovating older facilities," writes Michelle Brutlag Hosick of the NCAA. The article goes on to praise VUU for preserving the charm and character of college athletics.
"These buildings often come with a storied history that bears frequent retelling or bring an element of fun to the campus," Hostig writes.
Barco-Stevens was originally built in 1939 and was part of the Belgium exhibition during the New York City World's Fair. After Nazi Germany invaded Belgium during World War II, the United States laid claim to the building.
The building, with it's stone reliefs of the Belgian Congo on the walls, was awarded to VUU after a competition among the nation's 23 historically black colleges in 1941.
Relocation of the building to its current location on the VUU campus was completed in 1943, and the VUU men's basketball team played its first game in January, 1947.
The building acquired the name of Barco-Stevens Hall in 1962, when VUU honored athletic administrator and CIAA co-founder John W. Barco and professor Wesley A. Stevens as part of the 50th anniversary of the CIAA.
Barco-Stevens is currently undergoing a renovation. New bleacher seats, a new basketball playing surface and a new roof have already been installed. More renovations are planned during the summer months.
The other athletic facilities noted by the NCAA are:
* David S. Ingalls Rink; Yale University; New Haven, Conn.
* Cousens Gymnasium; Tufts University; Boston, Mass.
* Scott S. Blair Stadium; McDaniel College; Westminster, Md.
* Baseball/Softball facility; Lehman College; New York, N.Y.
* Corwin Stadium; Wesleyan University of Connecticut; Middletown, Ct.
* Ira R. Herr Field; Elizabethtown College; Elizabethtown, Pa.
* Vertical Campus; Bernard Beruch College; New York, N.Y.
* Steel Field; Moravian College; Bethlehem, Pa.
* Rhodes Fieldhouse; Harding University; Searcy, Ark.
* Woodruff Hall; Adelphi University; Garden City, N.Y.
* Loras College Fieldhouse; Loras College; Dubuque, Ia.
* Walker Gymnasium; Stevens Institute of Technology; Hoboken, N.J.
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