Construction crews began demolishing Joe E. Lucco Gymnasium earlier this month, ending the building’s nearly six-decade run as part of the Edwardsville athletic landscape
The gymnasium was built as part of a three-story, 83,500-square-foot addition on the south side of the high school that opened during the 1965-66 school year
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The project followed a tumultuous three-year period that began when the original $1.216 million bond — $13.358 million in today’s dollars — passed Nov. 27, 1962, by a 2,169-1,731 vote
Because the funding was deemed insufficient, a $270,000 request for additional funding was voted down in April and December 1964. It finally passed March 2, 1965, as part of a $1.097 million bond
Though it was slated to open in time for the 1965 season opener, the first game inside the new 3,000-seat gymnasium was not played until Jan. 11, 1966. Behind 13 points from Jim “Scrappy” Jackson and a 25-of-31 effort from the free-throw line, the Bob Gregor-coached Tigers defeated the Alton Redbirds 63-59 in boys basketball
The gym was dedicated Nov. 26, 1983, during the Edwardsville Basketball Classic and formally named Joe E. Lucco Gymnasium
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“I would especially like to thank the ‘family of fans’ in Edwardsville because you made all this possible. Without you, all of the good things couldn’t have been accomplished in athletics at Edwardsville,” Lucco told fans during the ceremony. “I hope this building is a center for learning as well as basketball.”
Lucco coached at Edwardsville from 1944-60 and 1963-65, guiding the EHS boys basketball team to 345 wins and three Elite Eight appearances. His teams finished fourth at state in 1954 and second in 1956. He had a 554-267 record during a 31-year career that included stops elsewhere
Lucco died April 7, 1998, at age 85
Joe E. Lucco Gym also served as a home of SIU Edwardsville basketball teams until the construction of Vadalabene Center, which now known as First Community Center
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Denise Schaake owns the single-game scoring record at Edwardsville, pouring in 50 points in a girls basketball win over Roxana on Feb. 22, 1978. She broke a scoring record set four years earlier
On Feb. 8, 1974, Greg Ahart scored a single-game boys basketball program record 47 points in a 90-73 win over Cahokia during his senior season. He made 20 of 29 shots from the field and 7 of 11 free throws
Ahart broke Jackson’s single-game record of 45 points, set in 1967 against Belleville West
The mark remains the record for the most points scored by an Edwardsville boys basketball player in a home game, though Dan Lytle surpassed it for the overall program record with a 48-point performance in a road win over Alton on Feb. 26, 1999
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Nearly two years before Lytle’s record-breaking performance, the Edwardsville boys basketball team played its final regular-season home game Feb. 25, 1997, at Joe E. Lucco Gymnasium. Less than two weeks later, the Tigers defeated East St. Louis Lincoln 67-37 on March 7, 1997, to win its third consecutive regional championship. It also marked the final game inside the gym it had called home for 31 years. Jimmie Dougherty scored 29 points in the win
Edwardsville moved into its new $31 million high school at the start of the 1998-99 school year
In February 2006, the gym at the current high school was named Lucco-Jackson Gymnasium after the former Tigers coach and also Harlem Globetrotters owner Mannie Jackson
Joe E. Lucco Gymnasium remained in use for Lincoln Middle School and also served as an alternate site for EHS athletics when needed
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Edwardsville wrestling hosted a Class 3A regional inside Joe E. Lucco Gymnasium on Feb. 8, 2025
On May 19, 2025, the Edwardsville boys volleyball team lost in three sets to the Belleville East Lancers. It was the final sporting event held in the venerable old gym
