Kathryn Chicone Ustler Hall (formerly known as the Women's Gymnasium and University Gymnasium) is a historic building on the campus of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

(UF) in Gainesville,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. It was designed by

William Augustus Edwards William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards (December 8, 1866 – March 30, 1939) was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he designed i ...

in the

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

style and opened in 1919 as the University Gymnasium. In that capacity, the building was the first home of the

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 NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played on Billy Donovan Court in the O'Connell Center, ...

team, and it continued to serve as the home court for most of the university's indoor sports programs until the Florida Gymnasium opened in the late 1940s. The university became

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

at about the same time, and the building was rechristened the Women's Gymnasium and was repurposed as a recreation center for the school's many new female students. On June 27, 1979, it was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The opening of the

O'Connell Center The Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The facility is named for the sixth president of the univ ...

in 1980 and new student recreation facilities made the old gym obsolete, and it gradually fell into disuse. The building was slated for demolition in the 1980s but was saved for its historic value, though it was used primarily as a storage facility for several years. A large donation by UF alumnus Kathryn Ulster made it possible to completely transform the interior into modern classrooms, offices, and other educational spaces, and the university's

Women's Studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

Department moved into the newly renamed Ustler Hall in 2006. It was the first academic building on the UF campus named to honor a woman, and at its rededication, it was the only freestanding campus building in the United States devoted solely to Women's Studies.

History

Planning and construction

The University of Florida (UF) was established in Gainesville in 1906. Initial student enrollment was about 100, so only two buildings ( Buckman Hall and Thomas Hall) were needed to accommodate all functions of the new school. Enrollment grew slowly over following years and accelerated under second university president Albert A. Murphree, who oversaw an expansion program that saw the addition of several colleges to the university's academic offerings and several more buildings constructed across the campus. By the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, enrollment reached 1000. Buckman Hall included some indoor athletic space, but a larger student population required larger recreational facilities, and the university made plans to build its first dedicated gymnasium on the west side of campus. The facility was designed by

, architect for the

Florida Board of Control The Florida Board of Control (1905–1965) was the statewide governing body for the State University System of Florida, which included all public universities in the state of Florida. It was replaced by the Florida Board of Regents in 1965.< ...

, who designed most of the UF's early buildings in the

style. Construction began in the summer of 1918, but the project went over budget, and Murphree solicited donations from the local community to complete interior details. Fundraising successfully completed when

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

agreed to hold

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in Gainesville in 1919 and rented the newly-opened University Gymnasium as their spring headquarters.

University Gymnasium

The University Gym was designed to be a combination student recreation center,

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

facility, assembly hall, and

sports venue A sports venue is a building, structure, or place in which a sporting competition is held. A stadium (plural: stadiums or stadia) or arena is a place or venue for sports or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely ...

. It was the home court of the

team and all other university-sponsored indoor sport programs for about ten years. However, spectator space around the court was very limited in the narrow building, and as university enrollment continued to increase, a larger wooden "New Gym" was constructed directly adjacent to the University Gym in 1929 to serve as a temporary home for the basketball team until funding was available for a more permanent replacement. Meanwhile, the University Gym continued to host physical education classes,

intramural sports Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' m ...

, and smaller assemblies.

Women's Gymnasium

The large brick Florida Gymnasium was finally completed in 1948, the same year that the university became fully

. The University Gym was renamed the Women's Gymnasium and was used as a recreational center and physical education space for the school's many new female students while the wooden "New Gym" next door was converted into rehearsal space for the university's marching band. The modern

became the new home of all of the university's indoor sports teams in 1980. The interior of the Florida Gym was redesigned and rebuilt as the new home of the physical education department, but the Women's Gym was deemed to be in need of too many repairs to justify renovation and it was slated for demolition. A community push to save the structure delayed its destruction, and in 1988, it was listed in the

, affording it protection. However, it remained underutilized and was used primarily as a storage facility for over a decade.

Ustler Hall

With a donation from UF alumna Kathryn Chicone Ustler in 2000, the long-vacant gym was transformed into a three story academic building with modern classrooms along with faculty and administrative offices. A circular courtyard was also added in front of the building, replacing a small parking area. The restoration process began in 2004 and was completed in July 2006. In 2008, the restoration was named a "Project of Regional Impact" by the Florida Heritage Foundation. Now known as Ustler Hall, the building houses the university's Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies and the Center for Women's and Gender Studies Research. It was the first academic building on the UF campus renamed to honor a woman, and at the time of its dedication, it was the only freestanding campus building in the United States devoted solely to

References

External links

About Ustler Hall (UF Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies)

a
National Register of Historic Places

Alachua County listings
a
Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs

The University of Florida Historic Campus
a
UF Facilities Planning & Construction

George A. Smathers Libraries
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Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research
{{National Register of Historic Places in Florida Buildings at the University of Florida Florida Gators basketball venues National Register of Historic Places in Gainesville, Florida William Augustus Edwards buildings 1919 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1919 Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida