Patten Gymnasium is the name of two multi-purpose gymnasiums (one past and one present) in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, United States, on the campus of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. The original building, designed by

George Washington Maher George Washington Maher (December 25, 1864 – September 12, 1926) was an American architect during the first quarter of the 20th century. He is considered part of the Prairie School-style and was known for blending traditional architecture wit ...

, opened in 1910 and was home to the

Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball The Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team representing Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference. Men's basketball was introduced at Northwestern in 1901. Since 2013, the team has been c ...

team until 1940, when it was demolished to make room for the construction of the Technological Institute. The current Patten Gymnasium opened in 1940 and hosted the men's basketball team for 12 years before Welsh-Ryan Arena opened in 1952. The ivy-lined building has the doors and statues from the old gym. It currently is the home to the women's

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

team, intramural sports program and also has offices and locker rooms for the

women's lacrosse Women's lacrosse (or girls' lacrosse), sometimes shortened to lax, is a sport with twelve players on the field at a time (including the goalkeeper). Originally played by indigenous peoples of the Americas, the modern women's game was introduce ...

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

, and men's and women's soccer teams. It is named for James A. Patten, former Evanston mayor, philanthropist, commodities broker and NU board of trustees president. In 1999, the swimming pool area, which had been unused since 1987, was renovated and transformed into the Gleacher Golf Center. At the time that it opened, the Gleacher Center was the only facility of its kind in collegiate golf, featuring a pitching and putting green with an adjacent sand trap.

The original Patten Gymnasium, which had seating for 1,000 people, hosted the first

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

game in 1939. The sculptures "Physical Development" and "Intellectual Development" by the artist

Hermon Atkins MacNeil Hermon Atkins MacNeil (February 27, 1866 – October 2, 1947) was an American sculptor born in Everett, Massachusetts. He is known for designing the ''Standing Liberty'' quarter, struck by the Mint from 1916-1930; and for sculpting ''Justi ...

(1866–1947), affectionately nicknamed "Pat and Jim" (contractions of "Patten" and "gymnasium") and also known as "The Athlete and the Scholar", which had been exhibited in front of the original Patten Gymnasium starting in 1916, are now placed as sentinels at the sides of the successor gymnasium's front entrance.

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Patten Gymnasium
Basketball venues in Illinois Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in Illinois Northwestern University campus Northwestern Wildcats basketball Swimming venues in Illinois Buildings and structures in Evanston, Illinois Sports venues in Cook County, Illinois 1940 establishments in Illinois Sports venues completed in 1940 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four venues {{Illinois-sports-venue-stub