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Women's Gymnasium (Gainesville, Florida)
Encyclopedia
Kathryn Chicone Ustler Hall (formerly known as the Women's Gymnasium and University Gymnasium) is an historic building on the campus of the University of Florida
in Gainesville
, Florida
. It was designed by William Augustus Edwards
in the Collegiate Gothic
style. On June 27, 1979, it was added to the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places
.
was coming to and end and UF's student body was growing. The building opened in 1919. It was designed as an assembly hall and sports venue, and was used for several years as the home of the Florida Gators men's basketball
team. Audience size was not part of the construction plans, however. With the university continuing to grow, by the mid-1920s the building was mainly used for intramural sports
and smaller assemblies.
When the university went fully co-educational in 1948, the building was renamed the Women's Gymnasium and was used for hosting women's sporting events. Though it stopped being used for sporting events in 1979 and the university received state funds to demolish the building, it was preserved.
With a donation from sociology alumna Kathryn Chicone Ustler in 2000, the vacant gym was transformed into a 14700 square feet (1,365.7 m²) three story academic building that contains faculty and administrative offices, as well as seminar classrooms. The restoration process began in 2004 and the Women's Studies Department moved into the facility in July 2006. Now known as Ustler Hall, it houses the Center for Women's and Gender Studies Research. Ustler Hall is the only freestanding campus building in the United States devoted solely to Women’s Studies. This is the first building on the UF campus renamed to honor a woman.
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. It was designed by William Augustus Edwards
William Augustus Edwards
William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards, was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and his native South Carolina.- Early life and education :William...
in the Collegiate Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style. On June 27, 1979, it was added to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
History
Construction on the gymnasium began in the summer of 1918, just as World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
was coming to and end and UF's student body was growing. The building opened in 1919. It was designed as an assembly hall and sports venue, and was used for several years as the home of the Florida Gators men's basketball
Florida Gators men's basketball
The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Southeastern Conference...
team. Audience size was not part of the construction plans, however. With the university continuing to grow, by the mid-1920s the building was mainly used for intramural sports
Intramural sports
Intramural sports or intramurals are recreational sports organized within a set geographic area. The term derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls", and was used to indicate sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an ancient city...
and smaller assemblies.
When the university went fully co-educational in 1948, the building was renamed the Women's Gymnasium and was used for hosting women's sporting events. Though it stopped being used for sporting events in 1979 and the university received state funds to demolish the building, it was preserved.
With a donation from sociology alumna Kathryn Chicone Ustler in 2000, the vacant gym was transformed into a 14700 square feet (1,365.7 m²) three story academic building that contains faculty and administrative offices, as well as seminar classrooms. The restoration process began in 2004 and the Women's Studies Department moved into the facility in July 2006. Now known as Ustler Hall, it houses the Center for Women's and Gender Studies Research. Ustler Hall is the only freestanding campus building in the United States devoted solely to Women’s Studies. This is the first building on the UF campus renamed to honor a woman.
See also
- University of FloridaUniversity of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
- Buildings at the University of FloridaBuildings at the University of FloridaThe University of Florida is a flagship university in the State University System of Florida and has many notable buildings located in Gainesville, Jacksonville, Orlando and throughout Florida. The Campus Historic District at the University of Florida comprises 32 contributing properties that are...
- Campus Historic DistrictUniversity of Florida Campus Historic DistrictThe University of Florida Campus Historic District is a historic district on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The district, bounded by West University Avenue, Southwest 13th Street, Stadium Road and North-South Drive, encompasses approximately and contains 11 listed...
External links
- Alachua County listings at National Register of Historic Places
- Alachua County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- Virtual tour of University of Florida Campus Historic District at Alachua County's Department of Growth Management
- The University of Florida Historic Campus at UF Facilities Planning & Construction
- George A. Smathers Libraries