More frequently, it seems, institutions are tearing down old facilities and erecting new ones: bigger, shinier, sleeker buildings with all the bells and whistles to impress everyone who enters the gates.

But what about the facilities that aren't necessarily new or sleek? A lot of the charm and character of college athletics is embedded in some unusual and sometimes quirky places.

Sometimes a facility's remarkable feature is the result of space limitations on a campus, or sometimes it's financial constraints that can create character in an institution's athletics arena, stadium or field. In still other instances, what makes a place unique is tied to a decades-old (or older) tradition.

Some schools pay the occasional homage to a gym from a bygone era. The 1970s-era coliseum at the University of North Texas, for example, is known as the "Super Pit" in honor of the original "Snake Pit" that preceded it.

But facilities don't have to be -- or look -- old to have appeal. Since 2003 at Wayne State University (Michigan), for example, the baseball team has played in an exact replica of Fenway Park, with its own 37-foot "Green Monster" in left field, even though Wayne State's Athletics Director Rob Fournier is a New York Yankees fan from Massachusetts.

While some institutions are tearing down the old to make way for the new, others are celebrating their uniqueness by restoring or renovating older facilities. A school in Pennsylvania is keeping its historic stadium, once home to a recreation area for steelworkers and U.S. Open Soccer Cup championship, but updating the field. A Virginia institution is renovating an old building sent to it from the New York City World's Fair. But officials are keeping intact the essence of what makes those facilities unique.

Institutions often are proud of a facility that may not be considered glamorous by today's standards. These buildings often come with a storied history that bears frequent retelling or bring an element of fun to the campus.

Many of the facilities on the following pages are a tribute to the enterprising athletics administrators who are faced with a challenge of some sort -- can you imagine, for example, trying to field competitive Division III athletics teams in the middle of New York City? Others simply have great stories of how their buildings came to be or have some quirky characteristic that makes them stand out.

What they all have in common, though, is that special something that made the usual bricks and mortar unusual, and the someone on campus was proud enough to talk about it.