Ka Leo o Hawaii, the newspaper of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, reported on Thursday that plans are underway to demolish Klum Gym to build an extension to the main UH parking structure.

For die-hard UH volleyball fans, the news was probably bittersweet. One can only wonder what diehard UH volleyball fans said when they read that announcement.

See, Every sports program has a beginning, a birthplace that any long-time devoted fan can look at and say, “That’s where our team became great.”

For the University of Hawaii volleyball teams, that place is Klum Gym.

From the Rainbow Wahine volleyball program’s second season in 1975 (the team did not play any home games during its first year) until the opening of the Special Events Arena in 1994 (later renamed the “Stan Sheriff Center”), Klum Gym served as the home of Hawaii volleyball for some 20 years.

And for many people, those 20 years at Klum Gym are unforgettable. The modest, little gym had no air conditioning to protect players and spectators from the Manoa humidity. The facility seated less than 3.000 people, a far cry from the more than 10,000 the Stan Sheriff Center can seat today.

Yet, Klum Gym was the place where Hawaii volleyball blossomed. The team from a small little state known more for hula and luaus than athletics quickly proved itself to mean serious business on the national level. In 1975, in fact, the Rainbow Wahine went undefeated throughout the season–until being rudely slammed by the UCLA Bruins at the national finals.

Yet, Hawaii proved themselves in 1979 when they won their first national title, a mere four years after their first home game at Klum Gym. In fact, all four of Hawaii’s four national titles (1979, 1982, 1983, 1987) were won while the Rainbow Wahine still called Klum Gym home. And, it was here where volleyball quite literaly became the state sport.

Hawaii residents, thrilled at having such a great team representing their state, flocked by the thousands to watch their team dominate at the national level. In 1989, Klum Gym sold out 12 times, something that was back then completely unheard of in what was still considered to be a cult sport.

In 1994, Hawaii played its last game at Klum Gym. Then in November __, Hawaii moved to the newly completed 10,000 seat Special Events Arena–complete with world-class locker rooms, a fully air conditioned arena, and, dare we say it, armrests!

Yet, today, the condemned “legendary” Klum Gym, as the UH Rainbow Wahine Volleyball media guide calls it, is surrounded by an aura of legacy that won’t be lost even if Klum Gym does get demolished to help solve UH’s parking shortage. Even Rainbow Wahine head coach Dave Shoji would have to agree.

“When I look back to think what was the most memorable or my fondest memories, I’d have to say it was the Klum Gym era,” Shoji said. “That’s where it all started. We had some unbelievable matches there from 1977 to the early 1990s. There were some unforgettable moments, against the likes of Long Beach State, UCLA and Pacific that the whole state will always remember.

“I think the experiences at Klum are the reasons that we get the kind of crowds now at the Stan Sheriff. Klum Gym is where the state of Hawaii fell in love with volleyball.”