 It opened in 1949 as a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena and served as the home court of the Florida Gators men's basketball team and other UF indoor sports programs for over thirty years, acquiring the nickname of "Alligator Alley" during that time.The Stephen C. O'Connell Center opened in 1980 and became the new home of UF's indoor sports teams.The Florida Gym was extensively redesigned and renovated in the 1980s and again in the 1990s to replaced the former seating area with classrooms, laboratories, offices, and other educational facilities to house the University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance (HHP).