The University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium, also called "the Red Gym," is a building on the campus of University of Wisconsin-Madison, which houses the University's Multicultural Student Center, Campus Information and Visitors Center, the Morgridge Center for Public Service, and other student services. It was originally built as a combination gymnasium and armory in 1892. Designed in the Romanesque Revival

Romanesque Revival architecture

Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...

 style, it resembles a red brick castle. It is situated on the shores of Lake Mendota

Lake Mendota

Lake Mendota is the northernmost and largest of the four lakes near Madison, Wisconsin. The lake borders Madison on the north, east and south, Middleton on the west, Shorewood Hills on the southwest, Maple Bluff on the northeast, and Westport on the northwest....

, overlooking Library Mall, and adjacent to Memorial Union

Memorial Union (Wisconsin)

The Memorial Union, known locally as simply "the Union", is located on the shore of Lake Mendota on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. Between the building and the lake is the Terrace, a highly-popular outdoor space....

.

History

Around the time of the construction of the building, anti-capitalist civil insurrections had occurred in a number of cities in the United States, including the Haymarket riot

Haymarket affair

The Haymarket affair was a demonstration and unrest that took place on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed the public meeting...

 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in 1886. Leaders in many cities saw the need for local armories to be prepared for worker strikes and uprisings. Thus, when funding the building, the Wisconsin legislature

Wisconsin Legislature

The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Wisconsin Senate and the lower Wisconsin Assembly...

 clearly saw its use by local militia. The architects, Conover and Porter, designed it with a dual purpose in mind: armory and gymnasium. Modifications were made to the plans when a new university president, Charles Adams, insisted that the second floor be capable of accommodating large assemblies. Construction began in fall, 1892 and was completed in September, 1894.

As originally constructed, the first floor of the Red Gym held military offices, an artillery drill room, bowling alleys, a locker room, and a swimming tank. The second floor contained a drill hall wide enough to permit a four-column battalion. The third floor was occupied by the gymnasium, which contained a baseball cage, gymnastic apparatus, and rowing machines. Two rifle ranges and a running track were on a level a few steps lower than the gym.

Over the next 30 years, the second floor assembly hall was the scene of speeches by William McKinley

William B. McKinley

William Brown McKinley was a United States Representative from the State of Illinois. He was born near Petersburg, Illinois....

 (1894), William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...

 (1912), Eugene Debs

Eugene V. Debs

Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...

 (1923), Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair

Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...

 (who in 1922 had to promise not to be controversial), and the Republican state conventions of 1902 and 1904, which nominated Robert M. La Follette

Robert M. La Follette, Sr.

Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...

 for governor.

The anti-military sentiment in Wisconsin that occurred after World War I

World 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...

 resulted in the elimination of compulsory military training. The Red Gym was also no longer used for Big Ten basketball games following the construction of the university field house in 1930. In the 1930s and 1940s, much of the first and second floors was partitioned into offices. With diminishing use of the building after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, plans were made to demolish it, however popular sentiment delayed those plans. When a new gym was constructed on the west end of campus in 1963, the building was again slated for demolition, and again received a reprieve. In the 1960s it once again saw military use as ROTC

Reserve Officers' Training Corps

The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college-based, officer commissioning program, predominantly in the United States. It is designed as a college elective that focuses on leadership development, problem solving, strategic planning, and professional ethics.The U.S...

 headquarters. A firebomb

Firebombing

Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....

 aimed at the building by anti-war protesters in 1970 resulted in severe damage, which was repaired. Since then, the building has seen a variety of administrative uses, and is now the University Visitors Center.

The University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium was declared a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

in 1993.

External links

• The University of Wisconsin–Madison Armory and Gymnasium, Wisconsin Historical Society