Mabee Gym is a building that has been on campus for about 40 years and I've heard some folks say it is really a piece of trash. But to be honest, thats in the eye of the beholder. A 40 year old building on campus is still a good deal younger than several others that are landmarks like McFarland Library and yes, Chapman/Skelly Stadium that was built in 1930 - 86 years ago. And of course those iconic structures have gone through more than one renovation. I am a big advocate of renovation where feasable and replacement where renovation isn't. I was in Mabee Gym on the west side a couple of months ago in the area where the offices are located and its really fairly nice there. We have a lot of important offices and storage there and it looks fine imo. There is also a lot of irreplaceable athletic workout areas that are vital to the athletic dept. Of course the Rowing/Erg and water tank are there as well as our main volleyball practice gym and I believe we still have the indoor golf practice room as well as a large indoor workout room for track and a softball infield IPF "area". We also have a fairly large band room and dance drill/cheer room there. So Mabee Gym is very, very important to the athletic programs and needs to stay - period. Mabee is centrally located right across the street from Chapman and the Don, so it should be considered as "Athletic Territory" so to speak.

The one place I haven't been in is the campus police headquarters. Now I think the campus police are a vital dept at the university, but it just looks out of place in what I consider "athletic territory" and I'd be pleased to see the campus cops move to another part of campus and free up that part of Mabee for athletics. TU has talked about having an athletic team training table for some time and I assume we still don't have one at TU, so I'd think either an expansion at Mabee or renovation of a part of it would provide the space needed to have a dining area there. And its proximity to the football and basketball arenas would allow for another place for pregame and booster club affairs during bad weather.

Present Athletic Dept Use of Mabee Gym:
1. Athletic Offices (adm)
2. Equipment Storage (ath dept)
3. Rowing (Tank, Erg, meeting etc)
4. Indoor Golf Practice Room
5. Volleyball Practice Room
6. Utility workout room/practice area for track, soccer, softball (infield size).
7. Band/Instrument room, Cheer, Dance (considered as part of athletics)

Did you know? ------ Before Mabee Gym was built as it exists today, there were plans to build an arena on that piece of TU land. But at that time back in the 60's/70's, the adm decided (because of cost) not to build an arena, but to construct Mabee instead. There was actually a rendering of what the arena would look like at that time. (I wonder if that still exists?)
If you remember, we were playing basketball during those years at first in the national guard armory on the fairgrounds and later at the fairgrounds pavillion. My how things have changed! Those kinds of changes will occur in the future as well and a reason I started this thread - a glimpse into the "possible" future of facilities at TU.

More later.