Trees Hall

Infobox Swimming venue
name=Trees Hall

---

imagesize=250px
caption=Entrance to Trees Hall, home of Trees Pool at the University of Pittsburgh
fullname=Joseph C. Trees Hall
nicknames=Trees Hall
city=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
capacity=~3,000
built=
opened=1962
closed=
demolished=
architects= Deeter & Ritchey
home clubs=University of Pittsburgh Swimming and Diving
Team Pittsburgh Aquatics
poolnames=Pool 1
Pool 2
length=50m
25yd
width=25yd
deep=
lanes=8
6|

Joseph C. Trees Hall is a multipurpose student, staff, faculty recreational facility on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Designed by the architectural firm of Deeter & Ritchey, Trees Hall first opened in 1962, [ [http://ryan.library.cmu.edu/fmi/xsl/AA/browserecord.xsl?-lay=Layout+%231&-recid=6195&-find=-find CMU Architectural Archives: Trees Hall] ] and a second phase of construction was completed in 1965. [ [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittfact;cc=pittfact;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;q1=allen%20hall;rgn=full%20text;idno=1974a073698;didno=1974a073698;view=image;seq=18;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset; Fact Book 1974, University of Pittsburgh, 1974; Documenting Pitt; accessdate=2008-08-27] ] Trees Hall's pool serves as the home to Pitt's varsity men's and women's swimming and diving teams and the facility also houses the training facility for Pitt's women's gymnastics team. Trees Hall previously served as the home to the Pitt women's volleyball team from 1974-1981 until they moved into Fitzgerald Field House starting with the 1982 season. [ [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/w-volley/auto_pdf/06-media-guide.pdf 2006 Pitt Volleyball Media Guide] ] Trees also contains a dance studio, weight room, racquetball and handball courts, three basketball/volleyball courts, a gymnastics area, climbing wall, golf practice area, classrooms, and a computer lab and also serves as the home of the athletic training program at the University. [ [http://www.tour.pitt.edu/tour-191.html Pitt tour: Trees Hall] ] [ [http://www.intramurals.pitt.edu/facHours-sports.asp Facility Information - Sports and Recreation] ] [ [http://www.education.pitt.edu/technology/treeslab/ Trees Hall computer lab] ] Trees Hall underwent significant renovations in 1999 when the gymnasium floors were resurfaced to provide a secondary practice facility for many of the Panthers teams, [ [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/facilities/pitt-facilities-trees-pool.html Athletic facilities: Trees Pool] ] a $5.1 million renovation in 2004 when gymnastics and other training facilities were added [ [http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory.fp5&-format=d.html&-lay=a&-sortfield=issueid%3a%3aissuedate&-sortorder=descend&keywords=trees%20hall&-max=50&-recid=33870&-find= University Times: Building, renovation projects abound, 2002] ] , and a $2 million renovation to Trees Pool in 2008. [ [http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/m/FMPro?-db=ma.fp5&-format=d.html&-lay=a&-sortfield=date&-sortorder=descend&keywords=master%20plan&-max=50&-recid=37475&-find= NewsFromPitt: Construction and Rennovations, 2008] ]

Trees Hall is named for Pitt alumnus, trustee, benefactor, and prominent athletic supporter Joseph Clifton Trees (M.E. 1895) who donated $100,000 for the construction of the original Trees Gymnasium in 1912 which, now demolished, sat near the site of the present day Veterans Administration Hospital in Oakland. [ [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittmiscpubs;cc=pittmiscpubs;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;q1=trees;rgn=full%20text;idno=00afj8718m;didno=00afj8718m;view=image;seq=290;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset; Agnes Lynch Starrett, Through one hundred and fifty years: the University of Pittsburgh, pgs 234, 330, 1935] ] [ [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittmiscpubs;cc=pittmiscpubs;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;q1=trees;rgn=full%20text;idno=00c50130m;didno=00c50130m;view=image;seq=0082 Robert C. Alberts, Pitt: the story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1987, pg 61-62, 1986] ] While at Pitt in 1891, Trees became Pitt's first subsidized athlete as a star 210 pound tackle on Pitt's football team. [ [http://digital.library.pitt.edu:80/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittathletics;cc=pittathletics;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;q1=Joe%20Trees;rgn=full%20text;idno=31735038318758;didno=31735038318758;view=image;seq=0136 1998 Pitt Football Media Guide, pg 138] ]

Trees Pool

Joseph C. Trees Pool is home of the men's and women's University of Pittsburgh Swimming and Diving teams, Trees Pool is housed in the left wing of Trees Hall and features a 75-by-165 foot Olympic-size swimming pool with a 770,000 gallon capacity. This main pool has the dual capability of an eight-lane, 50-meter course or a 20-lane 25-yard course. When completed in 1962, it was hailed as the largest indoor pools in the country [ [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittmiscpubs;cc=pittmiscpubs;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;q1=Trees%20Hall;rgn=full%20text;idno=00c50130m;didno=00c50130m;view=image;seq=0284 Robert C. Alberts, Pitt: the story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1987, pg 264, 1986] ] and although, when originally completed, it was one of the last 55-yard pools constructed in the United States, it was also one of the first pools with a 10-meter high-dive tower, underwater windows, underwater sound system, and heated deck and benches. An additional 6-lane 25-yard pool was added in the summer of 1963. In 2002, a Daktronic scoreboard was installed and in 2003 a Panthers' Wall of Fame featuring plaques of every Pitt Swimming and Diving All-American as well as conference and meet championship trophies was unveiled. [ [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/c-swim/auto_pdf/07mediaguide.pdf 2006-07 Pitt Swimming and Diving Media Guide] ] Currently, the diving area is equipped with two one-meter and two three-meter durafirm stands with maxiflex boards, in addition to multiple diving towers with a 16-foot water depth. [ [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/facilities/pitt-facilities-trees-pool.html Athletic facilities: Trees Pool] ] Trees pool is undergoing a $1.92 million major renovation scheduled to be completed on September 1st, 2008 which includes a new bottom logo, new 1-meter diving platforms, new pool deck, new deck heating, new water heating, filtration and circulation systems. [ [http://www.teampittsburgh.com/html/A%20picture%20story%20of%20the%20renovation%20of%20Pitt's%20Trees%20Pool-%20Summer%202008.pdf Trees Pool rennovations] ] [ [http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/m/FMPro?-db=ma.fp5&-format=d.html&-lay=a&-sortfield=date&-sortorder=descend&keywords=master%20plan&-max=50&-recid=37475&-find= NewsFromPitt: Construction and Rennovations, 2008] ] Trees Pool is also the home of Team Pittsburgh youth and masters swimming program. [ [http://www.teampittsburgh.com/ Team Pittsburgh aquatics] ]

Notable Trees Pool Events

*1963 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Championship
*1982 Women's College Nationals AIAW Championships
*15 (1983-1996, 1998) Big East Swimming and Diving Championships
*Numerous Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships (including 2004 and 2008)
*2003 Long Course Eastern Zone Championships [ [http://www.pvswim.org/eastzone/ezlc03_bi.htm LC Easter Zone Championship] ]
*2005 Senior Olympics (swimming, Trees Hall also hosted badminton and volleyball) [ [http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory.fp5&-format=d.html&-lay=a&-sortfield=issueid%3a%3aissuedate&-sortorder=descend&keywords=%22Cost%20center%22&-max=50&-recid=34436&-find= University Times:Pitt expected to be hub of Senior Olympics games] ]

Gymnastics Training Center

Completed and official opened on October 23, 2004, the Gymnastics Training Center provides 12,000 square feet of gymnastics training space to the University of Pittsburgh women's gymnastics team. The second-largest training facility in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League, the Trees Hall gymnastics training facility has two complete vaulting set-ups (one landing into a resipit and the other into foam blocks), three sets of uneven bars (one over a resipit), a single bar over a foam block/resipit, a trench bar system, five balance beams with mount and dismount areas, low beam space, stack beams and beam dismounts into pits, a full floor exercise including tumbling pits, a rod floor/tumble trac into a resipit, an in-ground trampoline, and other amenities such as cardio equipment, lockers, and a music center. [ [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/facilities/pitt-facilities-gymnastics.html Gymnastics Facility] ] The gymnastics team holds its home meets in Fitzgerald Field House, which sits across Aliquippa Street from Trees Hall and is also connected by an underground tunnel.

External Links

* [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/c-swim/auto_pdf/JoeCTrees.pdf Trees Pool Records]
* [http://www.education.pitt.edu/intramurals/outdoors/rockwall.html Pitt Climbing Wall]
* [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/pitt-c-swim-body.html Pitt Swimming & Diving]
* [http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/sports/w-gym/pitt-w-gym-body.html Pitt Gymnastics]
* [http://www.teampittsburgh.com/ Team Pittsburgh]

References