Rose Hill Gymnasium

455 East Fordham Road | also 441 East Fordham Road | Belmont | built 1922

Open on the map6 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1925

    January 16

    Giants second baseman Frankie Frisch referees the gym's first basketball game

    Fordham's Rose Hill Gymnasium hosted its opening basketball game on January 16, 1925, and the referee was Frankie Frisch, a Fordham alumnus then playing second base for the New York Giants. The 3,200-seat arena is still home to Fordham basketball and volleyball.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1925

    The new Gothic gym is so large for its day that it earns the nickname The Prairie

    When it opened in 1925 the gym was among the biggest on-campus athletic halls in the country, earning the nickname "The Prairie." Its exterior follows the campus's Gothic Revival style, with rough light fieldstone walls, buttressed windows, a crenellated parapet, and a carved stone cross and Fordham emblem over the entrance arch.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1946

    May 11

    President Harry Truman visits the gym's Army barracks and rings a ship's bell

    During World War II the U.S. Army used the gymnasium as a barracks, and New York City mayor Ed Koch lived there for a time. President Harry Truman came to the barracks on May 11, 1946, and rang a ship's bell that remains in the gym. Fordham teams ring it after winning conference championships.

    “On May 11, 1946, President Harry Truman visited this barrack and rang a ship bell that remains there today.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1970

    Vince Lombardi's plan for a 10,500-seat arena dies with him

    Football alumnus Vince Lombardi led an effort to turn the small gym into an arena seating 10,500. The plan fell apart after Lombardi died in 1970 and coach Digger Phelps departed for Notre Dame in 1971. The university instead built a separate athletic facility joined to the old gym.

    “Vince Lombardi, a Fordham football alumni, wanted to transform the small gym into a 10,500-seat gym. This plan fell through when Lombardi died in 1970…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 2018

    Fordham names the gym's court for player, coach and athletic director Frank McLaughlin

    In 2018 the basketball court became the Frank McLaughlin Family Basketball Court. McLaughlin, a Fordham alumnus, had played for the team from 1965 to 1969, served as an assistant coach in 1970-71, and was the university's athletic director from 1985 to 2012.

    Source: Wikipedia

  6. 2025

    December

    Rose Hill Gym becomes the oldest college basketball venue still in use

    Rose Hill Gymnasium was already the oldest on-campus arena used mainly by an NCAA Division I basketball team. When Northeastern University closed Matthews Arena in December 2025, the Fordham gym became the oldest college basketball venue of any kind still in use. ESPN has named it one of the four "cathedrals" of college basketball.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 12 buildings with stories in Belmont