Old Gym is one of the surviving Victorian buildings that characterized the early style of the

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

campus in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The Old Gym was originally a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasium, later served as the Fine Arts Building, and currently houses the university's admissions office. Old Gym

History

The gymnasium was completed in 1880 and featured an indoor running track and considerable gymnastic equipment. At the time, it was one of the best equipped gymnasiums in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. The exterior of the building remains fairly untouched while the interior space has been modified through the years and uses of the building. The Old Gym is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The building consisted of a foundation of Tennessee

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

with a structure of wooden

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

es and walls of natural finished red brick. The

Mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

was covered with

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

shingles. Some of the original gymnastic equipment included a leaping rig, a vaulting board,

rowing machine An indoor rower, or rowing machine, is a machine used to simulate the action of watercraft rowing for the purpose of exercise or training for rowing. Modern indoor rowers are often known as ergometers (colloquially erg or ergo) because they m ...

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

, trapeze ropes,

Indian club Indian clubs, which originated in the Indian subcontinent, are a type of exercise equipment used to present resistance in movement to develop strength and mobility. They consist of juggling club shaped wooden clubs of varying sizes and weights, ...

s, dumb bells and a walnut chest expander.

Remodeling

In 1962 the Old Gym was renovated and made into the Fine Arts Building by Warfield and Associates. The remodeling project included the removal of the second-floor running track and the addition of heating and cooling throughout the building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Gym (Vanderbilt University) Buildings and structures in Nashville, Tennessee Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt Commodores basketball University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Sports venues completed in 1880 National Register of Historic Places in Nashville, Tennessee