West Gymnasium (1925)
Following World War I, the Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) made a special effort to attract men to the teaching profession. Part of this effort was the expansion of the physical education curriculum to include a broad range of courses to prepare men for teaching and coaching specialties. College officials decided a new gymnasium, devoted solely to men's physical education and intercollegiate athletics, could be the centerpiece of this recruiting effort. Until that time, both men and women used the women’s gymnasium, now the Innovative Teaching and Technology Center. In a 1919 editorial in the College Eye, the writer stated a new gymnasium was a priority on equal footing with the need for better student housing and a modern steam plant.
During that same period, the college had been attempting to expand its facilities by acquiring an additional 40 acres of land just west of the original 40-acre campus. The additional tract eventually acquired by the college was bounded by 23rd Street on the north, Hudson Road on the west, 27th Street on the south, and Campus Street, which then ran through campus, on the east. In April 1924, President Homer Seerley urged the Board of Education to build a new men's gymnasium on this land as soon as possible. The Board heeded Seerley's advice and commissioned State Architect W. F. Proudfoot to draw up plans. The Board awarded construction contracts for the new building in November 1924. The Breckner Construction Company of Minneapolis was the general contractor. The target completion date was August 1, 1925. By early February 1925, the College Eye reported construction materials, including 4,500 bags of cement and 850,000 bricks, were at the site. By April 1925, the foundation was complete, and by August, the exterior was substantially complete. However, much interior work remained.
The 175 x 205 foot building, with a project budget of about $180,000, would include a swimming pool, large gymnasium (with seating for 3,000 spectators in permanent seats and more in movable bleachers), recreation areas, classrooms, and offices. Fully equipped, the building would eventually cost about $250,000. In late October, a writer in the College Eye eagerly anticipated the new facilities: "No longer will we have to jam our clothes into an overstuffed locker. No more will basketball fans have to stand on their tip-toes and crane their necks to watch a game."
The building opened on November 28, 1925 with a variety of activities. First, there was a turkey dinner for the football team. The banquet included the visiting team from Colorado State Teachers College as guests. President Seerley and Professor Emmett Cable made short addresses before everyone went to the new gymnasium. There the College Band played several selections followed by wrestling and boxing matches, fraternity stunts, and a volleyball game. The formal dedication was held on December 14, 1925 with music and a demonstration basketball game.
The new gymnasium was home to many physical education classes, intercollegiate athletics contests, and sports exhibitions, including state high school basketball tournaments. College officials and students believed events such as these held substantial value as recruiting tools.
The gym was also home to musical performances, dances, and college assemblies. It was used so heavily that the gymnasium floor needed refinishing by November 1929. On September 13, 1930, a "T. C. men's room" opened on the second floor of the south side of the building. This furnished room, with a fireplace, was "dedicated to recreation and relaxation" of all the men of the college.
The facilities continued to be used heavily, and certain maintenance problems arose, possibly due to the high humidity levels caused by the swimming pool. Already in 1934, the window frames needed to be replaced. In 1938, a College Eye sports columnist voiced the strong opinion that lighting over the gymnasium floor was inadequate. Slight improvements in lighting, especially for wrestling matches, followed soon; however, substantial improvements did not appear until 1948.
In fall 1946, following heavy enrollment of men returning from World War II, three rooms on the second level of the Men's Gymnasium were converted into dormitory space for 38 men. While the new arrangement lacked some comforts of regular dormitory facilities, most men were happy to find on-campus housing. This arrangement lasted for only the 1946-1947 school year.
In the mid-1960s, the college undertook a series of steps to improve the Men's Gymnasium as a site for performances and assemblies. At the time, such events were held in Lang Hall. As enrollment grew and the popularity of programs such as the Controversial Speakers series increased, the inadequacy of Lang Hall facilities became apparent. Included in the Men’s Gymnasium improvements were an upgraded sound system and enhanced acoustics, but even these improvements in the Men's Gymnasium did not address the problem of limited capacity. Consequently, during the 1967-1968 basketball season, the university scheduled three games at McElroy Auditorium in Waterloo to accommodate larger crowds.
In the late 1970s, the Men's Gymnasium underwent a series of exterior renovations, including roofing, tuckpointing and window repair followed by additional tuckpointing and brick replacement in 1992.
For many years, the building was simply called the Men's Gymnasium to distinguish it from the Women's Gymnasium (now the Innovative Teaching and Technology Center). It was renamed Gymnasium No. 1 in 1977, to reflect the participation of both men and women in activities held there. However, this name did not catch on, so in October 1979, it was officially named the West Gymnasium.
The building served as the home court and arena for most of the school's indoor intercollegiate athletics teams for 50 years until the UNI-Dome was built. Even after the Dome was completed, several teams still called the West Gymnasium home. Sports fans who liked to be close to the action preferred the smaller floor of the West Gymnasium to the Dome.
The West Gymnasium facilities also served as a home for large assemblies, such as Commencement, primarily when the Dome was closed for maintenance. It was even briefly used as a refuge for a small group of local citizens temporarily displaced during the floods of 1993. In 1998, the interior of the building was renovated for use by the Department of Military Science.
In 2023, architects and consultants discovered structural issues requiring the building to be vacated. Sports programs such as track and field, cross country, softball and wrestling moved to other locations on campus.
The structural issues proved significant, and the University hosted a farewell ceremony to West Gym in May 2024. It was led by President Mark Nook and included remarks by head volleyball coach Bobbi Petersen and head wrestling coach Doug Schwab. The ceremony and other remembrances are captured in "UNI celebrates the historic legacy of the West Gym," published May 10, 2024 in Inside UNI. The building was demolished in summer 2024.
Compiled by Library Assistant Susan Witthoft; edited by University Archivist Gerald L. Peterson, July 1996; substantially revised by Gerald L. Peterson, with research assistance by Student Assistants Sara Nefzger and Katherine Meyer, scanning by Library Assistant Gail Briddle, April 2004; updated January 28, 2015 (GP); updated by University Archivist Jaycie Vos, July 2024; content updated by Graduate Intern Marcea Seible, June 2025; updated by Library Assistant Hannah Bernhard, February 2026.