Marion Beirne Spragins Hall

Spragins was constucted in 1978 for the use of UAH's sporting and athletics programs. Not long after construction, the building was dedicated to Marion Beirne Spragins, a noted leader at UAH and a Huntsville civic leader. Marion Beirne Spragins contributed to the expansion of UAH and left a significant amount of land in his will for UAH's use. Today, the hall still provides UAH's sporting and fitness programs with a place to practice and compete.

Construction on Marion Beirne Spragins Hall began in the mid-to-late 70s and was officially opened in October of 1977, with a swimming pool, handball and racquetball courts, a gymnasium, and weight rooms. The building was dedicated to Marion Beirne Spragins, a local civic leader, in March of 1978.

Marion Beirne Spragins served as the chairman of the University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation, a position he used to raise money for UAH's expansion. He gathered the funding to build Madison Hall, the graduate studies building. In the 1970s, he assisted in getting federal assistance to create a UAH nursing school. And he donated approximately 1,000 acres of land to the foundation in his will. For these reasons and more, UAH faculty and staff saw it fitting to dedicate the building to him in "perpetual honor".^[1]

Today, Spragins Hall is home to the UAH Athletics department and hosts basketball and volleyball games. It also contains the locker rooms for men's and women's soccer, as well as a film room and academic center. Located off of Ben Graves Drive, it is a convenient location for all sporting and athletic related events and physical education on the university campus.

^[1] “Marion Beirne Spragins Hall March 10, 1976,” Box 2, Folder 6, M. Louis Salmon Collection, The UAH Archives and Special Collections

The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Construction Update." Exponent (Huntsville) July 14th 1976. 10 ed, 16 sec.4.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Spragins Hall Use Schedule." Exponent (Huntsville) October 12th 1977. 12 ed, 6 sec.7.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Spragins Hall, UAH Events. Accessed June 6th 2022. https://www.uah.edu/events/venues/detail/3/1/spragins-hall.