Irving Gymnasium was an indoor athletics facility on the campus of

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the county seat, seat of Delaware County, Indiana, Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs ...

, USA. Opened in 1962 with a capacity of 6,600 spectators, it hosted primarily

Ball State Cardinals The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot. The Ball State Univers ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

games until

Worthen Arena John E. Worthen Arena is an arena on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The arena opened in 1992 and replaced Irving Gymnasium. Originally named Ball State Arena or University Arena, it was renamed Worthen Aren ...

opened in 1992. It hosted the 1972 and 1976

NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship The NCAA men's volleyball tournament, officially titled the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship, is an annual competition that determines the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in American college men ...

games. In 2008, Irving Gymnasium closed to undergo renovations for the new Student Recreation and Wellness Center. The Student Recreation and Wellness Center has since opened and offers 5 basketball courts, an indoor turf building for indoor football and soccer, a rock climbing wall, an expanded weight lifting and cardio equipment space, an 1/8 suspended walking/jogging track, a Quiznos and space devoted to yoga and martial arts.

Notable appearances

Presidential hopeful

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

spoke in Irving Gymnasium on April 4, 1968, to a crowd of 12,000 people, almost three times the

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

. The university had only 7,000 seats to offer, which left 5,000 students to stand during Kennedy's half-hour speech. A little over an hour after his speech, on the way to another campaign stop in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Kennedy learned of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

's assassination. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

made a stop in Irving Gymnasium on April 12, 2008, on his campaign trail, 40 years and one week after Kennedy's 1968 speech there.''Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama plans weekend campaign stop on campus'' (Ball State University Website)
Retrieved December 15, 2008.

References

External links

Facility information
Ball State Cardinals basketball College volleyball venues in the United States Basketball venues in Indiana Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Buildings and structures in Muncie, Indiana Volleyball venues in Indiana 1962 establishments in Indiana Sports venues completed in 1962 2009 disestablishments in Indiana Sports venues demolished in 2009 {{Indiana-sports-venue-stub