Construction of the Bell Center
Trinity University decided that they needed to renovate the Sams Center in order to make it grow because of the over population that was happening. When Title IX was esablished in 1972, it allowed for more women to participate in sports. Trinity was using the Sams Center to house all of its sports teams, and up to that point it had only been mens sports. Because of the huge number of womens sports that were coming to Trinity's campus, they decided that they needed to grow the athletic facilities.
This is when the Sams Center was renovated. They took out some recreational space throughout the building in order to add a weight room and more locker rooms for the women athletes along with offices for all of the athletic departments. In the photo above, you can see the baseball team practicing in 1992 while the Bell Center is being built in the background. The Sams Center did not have adequate space or facilities to house all of the athletes or the facilities to allow them to perform to the best of their abilities. They hoped the Bell Center was going to change that.
Some of the key loses that happened in the renovations from the Sams Center to the Bell Center was the elimination of the bowling alley and ball room. Yes, Trinity University used to have a grand ballroom on campus and it was located where the main entrance is today. The bowling alley was removed in order for the weight room for all students, staff and faculty to use. It was unpopular amongst students, but it was in the middle of the building and Trinity decided the space would be used in a more efficient manner if it was something else.