UAB Basketball Practice Facility

The UAB Basketball Practice Facility, formerly the George C. Wallace Building, Wallace Gym and Pool, Wallace Physical Fitness Complex or UAB Physical Education Complex (PE) is a +/- 45,000 square-foot physical fitness facility on the UAB campus at 600–608 13th Street South, adjoining the Bell Building.

Work on the new facility coincided with repairs made to the roof of the Bell Gymnasium after a tornado pushed a tree onto it. Ground was broken for the new building in October 1973, and it opened in November 1974. On July 14, 1975 the University of Alabama Board of Trustees voted to rename it in recognition of the "substantial support, interest, and contributions to the University of Alabama in Birmingham," of former Governor George Wallace. Wallace, who had been paralyzed in a shooting during his 1972 presidential campaign, had been prescribed physical therapy at the new facility through UAB's Spain Rehabilitation Center.

In February 2020 the Board approved an $8.5 million project to renovate the complex as a practice facility for the men's and women's UAB Blazers basketball teams. The project involved reconfiguring the gymnasium, converting racquetball courts into locker rooms and offices spaces, and adding a new entrance lobby and stairwell on the west side of the building. Work began in May 2021, with an anticipated opening in February 2022.

On February 5, 2021 the Board of Trustees considered a proposal from a working group charged with reviewing whether the names of campus buildings reflect the system's values of, "diversity, inclusion, and respect." The board voted unanimously to remove Wallace's name from the building. It was officially named the UAB Physical Education Building until reopening as a basketball practice facility.

References

• Feeley, Ted (February 12, 2020) "UA System Board approves Phase 1 of UAB Basketball practice facility." UAB News
• "University of Alabama System Board of Trustees renames Wallace Building at UAB." (February 5, 2021) UAB News
• Herfurth, Haley (June 10, 2021) "Look for these seven new spaces transforming UAB’s campus." UAB News