Best ECAC rink

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I can top all of your concrete bunkers: Levien Gym (Columbia basketball) is the worst sporting arena that I've ever visited. Horrible place.

Guess you never went to a basketball game in Barton Hall.  Mind you. I only went to one, but that was enough.

I love the inside of Barton Hall: I am always awed by its size. I think the only room I've ever been in that's larger is in the Udvar-Hazy museum at Dulles.

I do believe Barton would be a terrible place to watch a basketball game, though. The lighting is awful, and the room is probably 4-5 times as large as a basketball arena really needs to be.

And they wheeled in temporary "high-school" bleachers into the middle of the big, empty space.

[Thomas Larson]

I don't know how anyone's answer is anything but the Whale.

[Jim Hyla]

I don't know how anyone's answer is anything but the Whale.

Because there is no universal definition of "best".

[Jordan 04]

I don't know how anyone's answer is anything but the Whale.

At this moment, I agree.  Nice rink, and the national champions play there.

[Scersk '97]

And they wheeled in temporary "high-school" bleachers into the middle of the big, empty space.

Yet, somehow, the atmosphere was anything but high-school-like; indeed, far less high-school-like than Alberding or whatever they call it.  The few games I took in there included some pretty boisterous behavior from the students in the gallery.  And, hey, where else can you have a basketball game and employee barbecue in the same room at the same time?

I guess that I just like old, dank things.

[Chuck Henderson]

Barton Hall was great for basketball, especially in earlier days.  I guess one has to discount a little for my original child's impression.

I spent a sizable part of my life in Barton, from the '48-'49 season through '63-'64 (much less after returning to town in 1972).  I went to all basketball games; freshmen basketball games, which were usually before the varsity; all wresting meets (the NCAAs and AAU championships were in Barton); track meets, including the Heptagonals, which were always at Cornell.  I was in there for tennis practice, late in the evening, before the weather cooperated (had a key to Barton then for that purpose) and pickup basketball games.

But about basketball, it actually was a pretty good setup: the large stands on the south, the end zone and balcony seats on the west, and smaller stands (smaller than the south ones) set up on the north side and the east end.  Those north and east seats at that time were more of a permanent type, not rolled in, although able to be taken down for track meets and multiple wresting mats.  With big crowds, this made for a nicely enclosed area even with the large overall space.  I usually sat in the top row of the west seats behind the basket with my high school, then college friends; the band, which was great in those days, too, was lower down in those same stands.

And there were some games with pretty large crowds.  I remember one great game against Stanford in the 1950-51 season that was packed and raucous even though during the winter break (Cornell won); and also games against the Jack Molinas Columbia teams of that era.  And, of course, the Princeton games with Bradley some years later were big.

I think the atmosphere was actually a lot better than Bartels,

[billhoward]

When you can put 7500 or 9000 people inside Barton for basketball, the fans and players (home team at least) can forget the cavernous atmosphere. If we don't have another Sweet Sixteen year, the capacity of Bartels is fine.

[Al DeFlorio]

When you can put 7500 or 9000 people inside Barton for basketball, the fans and players (home team at least) can forget the cavernous atmosphere. If we don't have another Sweet Sixteen year, the capacity of Bartels is fine.

Barton had a much more big-time feel than Bartels.

[George64]

Cornell tops Bradley-led Princeton at Barton Hall, January 16, 1965.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I doubt attendance was anything close to that during my tenure.  In fact, the moved the basketball games to 5:00 so more people could attend and then come over to Lynah.  If they went head to head, hockey drew the fans.

[Trotsky]

I doubt attendance was anything close to that during my tenure.  In fact, the moved the basketball games to 5:00 so more people could attend and then come over to Lynah.  If they went head to head, hockey drew the fans.

Same here.

I only went to one basketball game at Barton in 4 years in the early 80's, and it was... sparse.  They had a shot from center court shot contest.  The first ticket called was two seats to my left and they didn't respond, so they redrew and my seat was picked.  (I gave the shot to my friend who hit iron twice.  I think the prize was a Hyandai or something.)

I would say the actual (turnstile, not sale) attendance at that game was 200.  In Barton that felt like the mapping of the Apollo landing sites on the moon.  You could actually shout across the court and be answered by a fan standing on the other side.

[Jim Hyla]

Cornell tops Bradley-led Princeton at Barton Hall, January 16, 1965.

I remember that well. My father and brother came down from Syr to see the game with me. We went to dinner and about 1/2 hour before tip-off they closed the doors, it was packed, and we never got in.:`-(

[Josh '99]

Cornell tops Bradley-led Princeton at Barton Hall, January 16, 1965.

Great find!  Here's the article on the game from the Daily Sun archive.  "9,000 fans were packing themselves into every possible spot in Barton Hall" to break the previous record of 8,279 set against Syracuse in 1952, and more than 3,000 were turned away.  Bradley scored 40 of Princeton's 69 points including 14 free throws, but shot only 13 of 38 from the field.  That guy was pretty good.

[billhoward]

I would say the actual (turnstile, not sale) attendance at that game was 200.  In Barton that felt like the mapping of the Apollo landing sites on the moon.  

Nice, painting with words. You  been saving up with this line, or it just moved from brain to fingers reflexively?

[David Harding]

Cornell tops Bradley-led Princeton at Barton Hall, January 16, 1965.

I remember that well. My father and brother came down from Syr to see the game with me. We went to dinner and about 1/2 hour before tip-off they closed the doors, it was packed, and we never got in.:`-(

I did get in and sat on the floor.  There certainly was excitement around the program in that era.  Hockey hadn't turned the corner upward and some reasonably big names, like Bradley, came to town.  I agree that with the configuration that Chuck accurately described it felt the appropriate size for the crowd.