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Mary Mars Gymnasium
The LMU women's and men's volleyball teams play all of their home matches in the historic Mary E. Mars Gymnasium, the home of LMU women's volleyball since the program came into existence in 1989. The men have played there since the program's start in 2017.
From the 1992 season through 2018, the Lady Railsplitters have compiled a 226-99 record, good for a .695 winning percentage. The men's volleyball team currently has a 29-6 record in the building, which equates to an .829 percentage.
The facility has hosted South Atlantic Conference Tournament opening round matches and the 2019 Independent Volleyball Association Tournament.
Since the opening of the Turner Arena in 1991, the facility has been used almost exclusively by the volleyball team. Beginning in 2004, the facility has undergone extensive renovations including a new scoreboard, technology upgrades at the scorers table/press row, repairs to the locker rooms, new windows and new glass-door entrances. The facility seats 1,500 spectators for athletic events, and houses offices and classrooms. The volleyball offices were moved here in 2004 and are located next to the West entrance.
The Mars Gymnasium also has a state-of-the-art weight room used by the LMU students, faculty and staff. Several classes are taught in the facility using both the court and a classroom located in the front of the building. The J. Frank White Academy also uses the facility as their home basketball court.
Mary Mars at the 75th anniversary ceremony
The building now known as Mars Gymnasium was originally a sports arena at Camp Forrest, an Army post in Tullahoma, Tennessee, (now a part of Arnold Air Force Base known as the Arnold Engineering Development Center) from 1941-1946. One of the more famous people using the future Mars Gymnasium during this period was General George S. Patton, who used the facility in 1941-42 to help train the second Armored Division. Later in the war, Camp Forrest was also used as a prisoner of war camp and the gymnasium was used by German and Italian POWs. After the war, Camp Forrest was closed and the building was no longer in use. Contrary to popular belief (partly based on the building's design) it was never an airplane hangar. The building was based on the quonset hut design used on military bases at the time.
In 1946, LMU began a $75,000 campaign for a new athletics facility and it was suggested that the Camp Forrest building be bought and moved to the campus. The building was renamed Mary E. Mars Gymnasium after the mother of a former member of the Board of Trustees, Sam Mars Sr., and dedicated to all mothers everywhere. Mars Gymnasium was officially opened on November 29, 1948, in a basketball game which saw the Railsplitters fall 58-43 to the Tennessee Volunteers. In the 1950s, the Mary S. Annan Natatorium was added to the building. Mars Gymnasium served as the home of the men’s and women’s basketball teams from 1948-1991.
The university recently commemorated the facility's 75th anniversary during the school's Homecoming with a ceremony led by J. Frank White Academy Instructor Mary Mars, the great-grandaughter of Mary E. Mars, who has an office and teaches Academy classes in "her" building.
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Camp Forrest Arena in 1945
Mars Gym in the1950s
