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Demonstrating the innate futurity that was spirited into its brick and mortar a century ago, the building formerly known as East Gymnasium is experiencing the most impressive reinvention of itself yet. After extensive renovations that began in 2004, the structure reopened this summer as the Innovative Teaching and Technology Center (ITTC), providing a venue for technology workshops, one-on-one consultations, digital design and audio/video services, the Center for Academic Achievement, part of Academic Advising and Testing, the Computing Consulting Center, the Geography and Computer Science Departments, as well as Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology labs, classrooms and offices. “Moving to the ITTC will allow my department to be located in the same building for the first time,” said Marilyn Drury, director of ITS Educational Technology. “We will be able to work more closely and share our expertise more easily. We are centrally located, so faculty, staff and students will be able to access our facility and services quicker.” Credit for the original building goes to the “grand old man of Iowa education,” former President Homer Seerley. During the 1890s, Seerley saw the need for a building for gymnasium, library and “recitation purposes” because of increasing enrollment and an expanding curriculum. To find the right facility that would serve both men and women, Seerley traveled around the country visiting more than 25 educational institutions and several YMCAs. In 1902, the school’s Board of Directors approved the project. In 1905, the building, simply called The Gymnasium, was dedicated. It provided women’s facilities on the south end, men’s facilities on the north, and included a swimming pool, offices, a large open gymnasium, exercise rooms, classrooms and a running track. The Gymnasium was the sole physical education building on campus until another gymnasium was built to the west in 1925, housing men’s classes and intercollegiate athletics. The new building was designated the Men’s Gymnasium and The Gymnasium became the Women’s Gymnasium. During World War II, the Women’s Gymnasium was used for offices and classrooms for the WAVES stationed in Bartlett Hall. By 1979, the Physical Education Center and the UNI-Dome were built to meet the needs of instruction, recreation and intercollegiate athletics. Both gymnasiums were then renamed East and West Gymnasium. In the 1980s and 1990s, the pool was standardized to meet national criteria, the roof was stabilized, fire safety improvements were completed and the Health Beat opened. In 1990, the building appeared on the Regents’ five-year capital improvement plan and the current $18.1 million project was approved in March 2002. For more information about campus buildings, go to www.library.uni.edu/speccoll/unifacts.html#build |
Students returning to campus this fall will find a technologically advanced instructional facility with interiors completely renovated and classic architectural elements preserved. Among the most striking physical changes are the total redefinition of the pool space, a new west entrance and an elevator and stairwells that serve the former gymnasium’s two levels. The utilitarian benefits are even more pleasing.
In 1935, the Board of Education announced renovations for the Women’s Gymnasium that included a swimming pool with seating for 500 added to the west side. The pool opened with a water carnival in 1938. New floors, stairwells and modern locker rooms were also added.