McCarthy Gymnasium

A multi-purpose facility intended to support the recreational, intramural and athletic activities of the University of St. Thomas community.

The McCarthy Gym was modeled after its predecessor that was built in the same spot in 1929. The old gym was torn down and the larger McCarthy gym was built in its place in 1950 (New Gymnasium Completed In September Seats 5,000). The gym initially housed the basketball courts that the MSU basketball team practiced and played on. In the early 1970s, the gym was renovated so that it could seat more fans during the basketball games. The building was renovated again in 1980 to house departmental offices (University Recreation MSU). Now the building houses indoor tennis courts and the Kinesiology Department.

The Kinesiology Department occupies the upstairs of the building. However, the Kinesiology Department has been known to utilize the downstairs tennis courts when conducting research. Students and faculty can stop by the building to see what experiments are being conducted and can even be a paid participant in one of these studies.

According to a longtime staff member in the Kinesiology Department that wished to remain anonymous, the basketball courts were converted to tennis courts in 1999 after a new basketball facility was built (Anonymous). In addition to being used by the Kinesiology Department for research, the tennis courts are currently being utilized by the tennis team for practice and the band to warm up before the football games. Most weeks the McCarthy Gym is open to the public from 4 pm to 11:45 pm Sunday through Thursday and 5 pm to 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.