Historic HBCU gym set to reopen after renovations

Courtesy of Morgan State Athletics Communications

BALTIMORE, Md. – Morgan State University’s Edward P. Hurt Gymnasium, a historic HBCU sports venue that has been closed for nearly three years for renovations, is on the verge of officially reopening for good.

After being closed for renovations since August 2021, Morgan State University faculty, staff, and students will have the opportunity to use the fitness center and the gymnasium during a soft opening period, which began Wednesday, July 10, 2024, and will run through Thursday, August 8, 2024.

The hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. until 9 a.m. for the fitness center and 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. for both the fitness center and gymnasium.

Individuals are asked to utilize the main front doors only for access (up the stairs or ramp). Your Bear Card (university ID) will be required for access. Upon entry, check in with staff on level 1 (across from the fitness center). You will need to check your belongings into a locker room locker, as no bags, food, or drinks (except for water bottles) will be allowed in the fitness center or the gym.

Hurt Gymnasium is scheduled to fully open for the fall semester with a target date of Monday, August 26. The schedule will be provided at that time.

The remaining spaces to open at that time will be the pool, the dance studio, and classrooms.

Built in 1950, the two-story on-campus HBCU facility is named after Edward P. Hurt , the longtime coach of the football, basketball and track teams at Morgan State. The gymnasium served as home to the Morgan State men’s basketball team from 1950 until the opening of Talmadge L. Hill Field House in 1974.

Hurt Gymnasium was the site of the first interracial American basketball game played south of the Mason-Dixon Line on February 12, 1952, with the Bears hosting Loyola College Maryland.

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