{"id":1576,"date":"2024-04-26T20:11:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T20:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/?p=1576"},"modified":"2025-04-23T15:12:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T15:12:56","slug":"gymnasium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/gymnasium\/","title":{"rendered":"Gymnasium (1916)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Gymnasium Building, circa 1934. Image source:\u00a0MSU Physical Plant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the early years of the Michigan Agricultural College, organized sports were virtually nonexistent\u2014after all, \u201cstudents who must work three hours a day in the field found less than the usual time or inclination for systematic athletic competition.\u201d Nevertheless, informal games of baseball, soccer, and rugby frequently arose.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year before the\u00a0Armory<\/a>\u00a0did its part to alleviate the indoor space issue, the College in 1884 participated in its first intercollegiate athletic competition, a field meet at Olivet College. Four years later, it joined with Olivet, Albion, and Hillsdale Colleges to organize the Michigan Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association, which today is \u201cAmerica\u2019s oldest collegiate athletic conference.\u201d The M.A.C. Aggies hosted the first M.I.A.A. Field Day event from May 31 to June 2, 1888.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet even as M.A.C. participated in M.I.A.A. events, the Board of Agriculture was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

not in sympathy with the development of Athletics at the college to such an extent as will lead to public competitive trials between the students of this institution and other colleges, because the Board believes there are pernicious results liable to come from giving so large a measure of attention as will be required by students to prepare for these competitive trials.<\/p>\nMinutes<\/a>, 6\u00a0Apr\u00a01892, p.\u00a0620.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 1892 the Board denied a faculty petition for an indoor gymnasium and a 400-seat grandstand on the drill field west of\u00a0\u2116\u00a07<\/a>, and further stated that \u201cthe necessity of giving attention to Athletics to contribute to the good health and physical development of students in literary colleges, does not apply to our institution,\u201d clearly considering field work to be sufficient outdoor exercise.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This seemingly firm stance did not last long. In 1896 the long school vacation was moved from the winter to the summer, a change that promoted the school\u2019s participation in both football and basketball. The Board, ignoring its prior concerns, used the proceeds from the sale of lots on\u00a0College Delta<\/a>\u00a0to purchase thirteen acres of land south of the river for use as an athletic field (now known as \u201cOld College Field\u201d) and had\u00a0E. A. Bowd<\/a>\u00a0design a grandstand for it. Soon, intercollegiate competition, intramural sports, and the school\u2019s increasing size meant that a large, modern Gymnasium was an unavoidable necessity.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
1923 Commencement, in the Gymnasium. Image source: MSU Archives<\/a><\/span>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The L-shaped building, designed by Bowd in Beaux Arts style of brick and limestone, was built in 1916 on a site between the old drill field (now\u00a0Walter Adams<\/a>\u00a0Field) and the river, west of the\u00a0Botanic Garden<\/a>\u00a0and near the site where the original\u00a0Botany Laboratory<\/a>\u00a0once stood. It contained separate gyms and swimming pools for men and women, as well as other facilities.\u00a0The new Gymnasium also took over the public events role of the\u00a0Armory<\/a>, hosting\u2014among many other festivities\u2014the 1923 commencement ceremonies, which took place in the well-lit main gym on the second floor.5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 1940, following the dedication of Jenison Fieldhouse, men\u2019s athletics moved to that state-of-the-art facility, and the older building became the Women\u2019s Gymnasium. An addition in the International style to the south fa\u00e7ade in 1958 was accompanied by a change in name, if not purpose, to Women\u2019s Intramural Recreative Sports, or Women\u2019s IM. (That same year saw the completion of the Men\u2019s IM, now West IM.)6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the Gymnasium is known as Circle IM, and continues to host intramural and special-events athletic programming.<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0134. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0157.\u00a0MIAA website<\/a>. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Minutes<\/a>, 6\u00a0Apr\u00a01892, p.\u00a0620. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  4. 37th\u00a0AR<\/a>\u00a0(1896), p.\u00a026.\u00a0Minutes<\/a>, 17\u00a0Jul\u00a01900, p.\u00a0424; 29\u00a0Aug\u00a01900, p.\u00a0429; 27\u00a0May\u00a01903, p.\u00a0153. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  5. Stanford<\/a>, p.\u00a048. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  6. Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0361. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the early years of the Michigan Agricultural College, organized sports were virtually nonexistent\u2014after all, \u201cstudents who must work three hours a day in the field found less than the usual time or inclination for systematic athletic competition.\u201d Nevertheless, informal games of baseball, soccer, and rugby frequently arose. A year before the\u00a0Armory\u00a0did its part to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0134.\",\"id\":\"e7301d4f-404f-40b6-9901-c62c9b439a73\"},{\"content\":\"Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0157.\u00a0MIAA website<\/a>.\",\"id\":\"5326d971-daa4-4145-b930-fd42a5c67607\"},{\"content\":\"Minutes<\/a>, 6\u00a0Apr\u00a01892, p.\u00a0620.\",\"id\":\"8cb54af0-264f-4ec2-9b42-0b702e4c9635\"},{\"content\":\"37th\u00a0AR<\/a>\u00a0(1896), p.\u00a026.\u00a0Minutes<\/a>, 17\u00a0Jul\u00a01900, p.\u00a0424; 29\u00a0Aug\u00a01900, p.\u00a0429; 27\u00a0May\u00a01903, p.\u00a0153.\",\"id\":\"3c8eab47-d0d0-48a0-ba0c-d32b4319ea20\"},{\"content\":\"Stanford<\/a>, p.\u00a048.\",\"id\":\"f9dafa86-2885-4147-afd8-96d91785a44b\"},{\"content\":\"Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0361.\",\"id\":\"dac64a62-f178-445b-a1cf-d7bf371ebc64\"}]"},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-m-a-c-buildings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1579,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576\/revisions\/1579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}