TOWN AND COUNTRY, Mo. — The first thing that strikes you when approaching the doors to the Buder Gymnasium is the 100-plus district plaques adorning the two-story-tall wall.
A cutout of the old center court from 1983-2016 hangs outside of Buder Gym, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo.
The gym was built at Visitation Academy in the mid 1980s and has played host to the annual Christmas tournament since.
Attracting basketball fans from around the area, the Viz tournament has given an early-season look at the best girls teams. Multiple Division 1 players have competed in the tournament, including current WNBA star Napheesa Collier.
Folding chairs line the baseline on both sides of the gym as fans scrunch in for the tournament. Some fans end up on an upper-level overlook that typically holds workout equipment.
The former athletic office had a unique second story opening to the gym, but that window was closed when the room was needed for classroom use and the athletics office moved.
Center court of the original gym floor is framed and hung down a hallway, replaced during a 2016 renovation. The original center court design was an overlapping “V” and “A” but the current gym has the school’s common nickname — “VIZ”.
Visitation, founded in 1833, moved to Ballas Road in 1962, leaving its home at 5448 Cabanne Ave. in St. Louis, according to a St. Louis Globe-Democrat article.
For the first 20 years of Visitation’s time off Ballas Road, basketball and other sports were played in what is now the library, a photo caption says in the gymnasium lobby. Sisters leading the school saw the need for a new gymnasium and construction began in 1983.
A Visitation Christmas Tournament basketball game between Eureka and John Burroughs, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo.
Eureka’s Jenna Cubbage (12) and Ursuline’s Evelyn Shane (35) jump for the tipoff during a Visitation Christmas Tournament first round game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country. Michael Gulledge, Special to the Post-Dispatch
in the St. Dominic Christmas Tournament at St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon, Mo., on Dec. 29, 2017. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
in the Visitation Christmas Tournament at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo., on Dec. 27, 2017. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
during a Visitation Christmas Tournament basketball game between Eureka and John Burroughs, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to the Post-Dispatch
in the Visitation Academy Christmas Basketball Tournament at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo., on Dec. 17, 2016. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
A Visitation Christmas Tournament semifinal game between Lift for Life and Troy, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country. Michael Gulledge, Special to the Post-Dispatch
during a Visitation Christmas Tournament basketball game between Eureka and John Burroughs, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to the Post-Dispatch
during a Visitation Christmas Tournament basketball game between Eureka and John Burroughs, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to the Post-Dispatch
during a Visitation Christmas Tournament basketball game between Eureka and John Burroughs, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to the Post-Dispatch
during a Visitation Christmas Tournament basketball game between Eureka and John Burroughs, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to the Post-Dispatch
A Visitation Christmas Tournament basketball game between Eureka and John Burroughs, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo.
in the Visitation Christmas Tournament at Visitation Academy in Town and Country, Mo., on Dec. 27, 2017. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge is a photojournalist and journalist based in the St. Louis area. He often strings photos for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @mgphoto314.
