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The former home of the Virginia Commonwealth University basketball team is getting demolished.

The university’s board of visitors on Friday unanimously signed off on the demolition of the Franklin Street Gym to make way for a new building dedicated to science, technology, engineering and math education.

Meredith Weiss, VCU’s vice president of administration, said the gym, located at 817 W. Franklin St., is scheduled to be demolished in the spring.

The original gym, which was at 805 W. Franklin St., opened in 1952 with about 500 seats as the home of the Richmond Professional Institute Green Devils.

VCU was formed in 1968 when the institute merged with the Medical College of Virginia.

A new gym — an addition to the original building — opened in 1970 and seated 1,500 people, according to the Richmond Free Press. Some VCU games, though, were played at the Richmond Coliseum. The final men's basketball game at the Franklin Street Gym was played in the 1978-79 season.

The Franklin Street Gym is now mostly vacant, except for a few classrooms and offices. The university’s main gym is on Cary Street, and the basketball team plays in the Siegel Center, which opened in 1999.