John J. Lee Amphitheater
| Cathedral of Sweat | |
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| Location | 70 Tower Pkwy New Haven, CT 06511 |
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| Owner | Yale University |
| Operator | Yale University |
| Capacity | 2,532 (Lee Amphitheater) 2,178 (Kiphuth Exhibition Pool) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1932 |
| Architect | John Russell Pope |
| Tenants | |
| Yale Bulldogs (basketball, fencing, gymnastics, squash, swimming, & volleyball) |
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The Payne Whitney Gymnasium is the gymnasium of Yale University. One of the largest athletic facilities ever built, its twelve acres of interior space include a nine-story tower containing a third-floor swimming pool, fencing facilities, and a polo practice room. The building houses the facilities of many varsity teams at Yale, including basketball, fencing, gymnastics, squash, swimming, and volleyball. It is the second-largest gym in the world by cubic feet and the 94th largest in the United States by square footage.
The building was donated to Yale by John Hay Whitney, of the Yale class of 1926, in honor of his father, Payne Whitney. Because it was designed in the Gothic Revival style that prevailed at Yale between 1920 and 1945, it is commonly known as "the cathedral of sweat". For the design of Payne Whitney Gymnasium, architect John Russell Pope was awarded the Silver Medal at the 1932 Olympic Games Art Competition.
The stuffed original Handsome Dan, the bulldog mascot of Yale and the first college mascot in the United States, resides in a glass cabinet near the entrance to the building.
The basketball team plays in the John J. Lee Amphitheater, which was named in 1996 for John J. Lee, '56 M.Eng., a star basketball player and benefactor in restoration projects; the volleyball and gymnastics teams also compete in the Amphiteater. The wing opposite the Amphiteater houses the Robert J. H. Kiphuth Exhibition Pool (6 lanes, 25 yards), where the swimming teams compete. The pool is named for Yale's legendary swimming coach and athletic director.
A series of three crew tanks runs along the back of the gym, providing training facilities for the crews. Above the crew tanks is the Practice Pool, one of the world's largest suspended natatoriums (5 lanes, 50 meters, 2 bulkheads). Above the Practice Pool are recreational basketball courts.
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