The architect responsible for creating Rob Gym was Charles Luckman Associates, who was also the main architect for the Kennedy Space Center and Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, as well as The Forum and Madison Square Garden.

[6][7] The main tenant of Rob Gym is the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos athletic program.

In addition to serving as an athletic arena, Rob Gym has seen its fair share of concerts.

Notable acts to play at Rob Gym include Boston on 12 March 1977 and the Grateful Dead on 29 May 1969, Cream on 24 May 1968, Jimi Hendrix on 11 February 1968, The Doors on 28 October 1967, and Bruce Springsteen on November 1, 1975, just after his cover of Time magazine.

Most of the concerts, and with them the Gauchos' basketball teams, would move to the Thunderdome during the 1979-80 school year.