Barco-Stevens Hall
Home of the VUU Basketball and Volleyball Teams
Capacity: 2,500
Barco-Stevens Hall, the home court of every Virginia Union basketball and volleyball squad since 1947, has been named by the NCAA as one of the most unique facilities in all of intercollegiate athletics.
Barco-Stevens Hall is located in the Belgium Building, which was first built in 1939 for the New York World’s Fair. It was listed in the June 20, 2005 edition of the NCAA News as one of 13 athletic facilities around the country which are worthy of “unique” distinction, including Ingalls Rink at Yale University and Cousens Gymnasium at Tufts University.
“While some institutions are tearing down old to make way for the new, others are celebrating their uniqueness by restoring or renovating older facilities,” wrote Michelle Brutlag Hosick of the NCAA. The article praised VUU for preserving the charm and character of college athletics.
“These buildings often come with a storied history that bears frequent retelling or bring an element of fun to the campus,” Hostig wrote.
The Belgium Building, with its stone reliefs of the Belgian Congo on the walls, was awarded to VUU after a competition among the nation’s 23 historically black colleges in 1941.
Relocation of the building to its current location on the VUU campus was completed in 1943, and the VUU men’s basketball team played its first game in January, 1947.
The building acquired the name Barco-Stevens Hall in 1962, when VUU honored athletics administrator and CIAA co-founder John W. Barco and professor Wesley A. Stevens as part of the 50th anniversary of the CIAA.
Barco-Stevens is currently undergoing renovations, many of which have already been completed. New bleacher seats, a new playing surface and a new roof have already been installed.
Seating just over 2,000 people, Barco-Stevens Hall has been the home of three men’s basketball national championship teams and a women’s national championship team, as well as the site of the 1980 NCAA Regional men’s basketball championship. Barco-Stevens Hall was also the site of the first three rounds of the NCAA 2016 Women's Atlantic Region Tournament.
Chicago Bulls star Ben Wallace, as well as former NBA standouts such as Charles Oakley and Mike Davis, all called Barco-Stevens Hall home when they played for the Panthers.
Barco-Stevens Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Hovey Field
Home of the VUU Football Team
Capacity: 10,000
Surface: FieldTurf
In the Spring of 1907, Dr. George Rice Hovey (VUU’s 2nd President) purchased 11 acres of land east of Lombardy Street for athletic fields. A former athlete himself, Dr. Hovey laid the foundations for VUU’s Athletic Program.
He purchased, for $8,483.55, an 11-acre tract of land on the opposite side of Lombardy Street from the main campus. Part of this was transformed into the main athletic field. Because of Dr. Hovey’s interest in and commitment to athletics, the land purchased in 1907 eventually became known as Hovey Field.
The first football game that was ever played on Hovey Field took place in October 30, 1909 between Virginia Union University and Virginia State University. The two teams battled to a scoreless tie.
Originally existing simply as a field with a fence surrounding it, bleachers were installed in the 1920’s. Eventually lights were installed, and the first night game took place during the 1949 season.
A new $1.2 million FieldTurf surface was installed in the spring of 2020.
Over the years, Hovey Field has seen VUU evolve into a perennial football power. The Panthers have captured 1 National Championship, 11 CIAA Championships and have participated in the NCAA post-season playoffs on 7 occasions. In addition, the Panthers have finished the regular season undefeated six times in their history.
Bryan Park
Home of the VUU Cross-Country Teams
Joseph Bryan Park is a 262 acre public park in the North Side of the City of Richmond, Virginia. It offers an Azalea Garden, hardwood forests, streams, ponds, and passive recreation areas on a hilly site bordered by I-95, I-64 and residential neighborhoods. The 175 acre urban forest contained in Bryan Park offers rich wildlife habitat and an important stopover for migratory birds. The park was presented to the city in 1909 by Belle Stewart Bryan and her family "...as a free park for the use of and benefit of all its citizens" as a memorial to her late husband.
Arthur Ashe Courts in Battery Park
Home of the VUU Tennis Teams
Located at Hawthorne Avenue and Overbrook Road, Battery Park is known for its tennis courts where Arthur Ashe learned to play. In addition to the tennis courts with push button lighting for anytime play, the park includes basketball courts, two children's playgrounds, restrooms, horseshoe pits, a community center that houses a free computer lab, and a swimming pool.
The park earned its name because it was the site where gun batteries were located during the Civil War. It is open from sunrise to sunset. Community Center hours vary. No alcoholic beverages, glass containers or unleashed pets are allowed in city parks.
VUU Softball Field
Admiral and Lombardy Streets
Virginia Union University President Dr. Claude G. Perkins, along with assistant softball coach Felicia Johnson, cut the ribbon and dedicated the new VUU Softball Field, located at the corner of Lombardy and Admiral Streets on Monday, February 11, 2013, in Richmond, Va.
Perkins, along with Leroy Vaughan of the "Tricky Tom" Harris Booster Association, cut the ribbon at the entrance on the home side of the field.
The field seats approximately 200 fans and marked the first on-campus competition facility for VUU since 1947.
