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Down the hill from the Thomas Commons sits the building known today as McWethy Hall, home to the Cornell College art department and the Peter Paul Luce Art Gallery. However, when the building was first constructed in 1909, it served a very different purpose: that of the college’s first gymnasium.
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McWethy Hall History
The Cornellian first reported in 1907 that students desired an indoor facility to help student-athletes train for their spring season. Many athletes said the reason for their often poor starts was due to the lack of proper facilities to begin practicing as early in the season as many of their opponents. During a meeting with faculty, trustees, and alumni, the idea of a gymnasium was proposed, and a fundraising campaign began, seeking pledges not just from alumni but from the students as well.
Saturday, October 10th, 1908, was an evening fraught with a great deal of significance with the laying of the cornerstone for the new gymnasium. January 15th of 1909 marked the dedication of the new building, located in Ash Park near the football field, where students were able to begin using the building for collegiate and intramural sports almost immediately. Coaches had offices within the building as well, allowing for student-athletes to meet with their coaches at times other than practice.
In 1953, with the building of the fieldhouse in Ash Park, Alumni Gym was remodeled for the Department of Health and Physical Education for Women. There was an emphasis placed on women’s health in the new building, and many of the new amenities catered specifically to women, as all the men’s sports had moved to the new fieldhouse.
Over time, as women’s athletics moved out from the Alumni Gym to the fieldhouse, and then to the Richard and Norma Small Multi-Sport Center in 1986, the building received less use, and there was talk about tearing it down. Meanwhile, the Art Department was sharing Armstrong Hall with the Music and Theater Departments, and with all three growing, more space was needed.
Trustee James McWethy, Class of ’65, gave a $2 million challenge grant to help raise money for a new space for the Art Department. And with his generous donation and the donations of others, Cornell was able to refurbish the old Alumni Gym to host the Art Department, keeping some historic aspects like the hardwood gym floor, but taking away others, such as ceiling insulation, in order to reveal the structural elements of the building. Alumni Gym was renamed McWethy Hall when it reopened in 2002, and it has hosted the Art Department and the Peter Paul Luce Gallery ever since.
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The Cornellian first reported in 1907 that students desired an indoor facility to help student athletes train for their spring season, as many felt the reason for their often poor starts was owing to the lack of proper facilities to begin practicing as early in the season as many of their opponents.1 During a meeting with faculty, trustees, and alumni, the idea of a gymnasium was proposed and a fundraising campaign began, seeking pledges not just from the alumni but from the students as well.2
Saturday, October 10, 1908, was “an evening fraught with a great deal of significance” with the laying of the cornerstone for the new gymnasium.3 January 15 of 1909 marked the dedication of the new building, located in Ash Park near the football field, where students were able to begin using the building for collegiate and intramural sports almost immediately.4 According to a college press release, the new gym boasted two full basketball courts, showers and lockers for both men and women (and a special locker room for visiting teams), a swimming pool, an indoor track, and wrestling room, among other amenities.5 Today, it is the only building on campus that was designed by an alumnus of the college.6
The Royal Purple of 1911 contains many pictures of the interior of the new Alumni Gymnasium, depicting both men and women making use of the gym, and noting that most students were very pleased with their new space and the variety of physical activities it offered. In addition to the various spaces for athletics, coaches had offices within the building as well, allowing for student-athletes to meet with their coaches at times other than practice.
The building could seat 1600, and the pool area could seat 300, allowing for students and family to come cheer on their teams.7 During this time, intramural sports as well as intercollegiate sports blossomed, and participation in many of the different athletic offerings increased.
In 1953, with the building of the Field House in Ash Park, Alumni Gym was remodeled for the “department of health and physical education for women.”8 There was an emphasis placed on women’s health in the new building, and many of the new amenities catered specifically to women, as all the men’s sports had moved to the new Field House. During this time, Cornell offered varied intramural sports for women such as field hockey, synchronized swimming, and basketball; women now had a facility of their own in which to practice for their competitions.
Over time, as the women’s athletics moved out from the Alumni Gym to the Field House, and then to the Richard and Norma Small Multi-Sports Center, the building fell into disuse. The Cornellian took a tour of the dilapidated building in the early 1990s, noting that while maintenance had done some work to clean up the dead pigeons and the sludge that now replaced the water in the pool, the building was certainly not something that could readily be put to use with the supplies on hand. At this time, the art department was sharing Armstrong Hall with the music and theatre departments, and with all three growing, more space was needed.
Trustee James McWethy, Class of ’65, gave a $2 million challenge grant to help raise money for a new space for the art department, and with his generous donation and the donations of others, Cornell was able to refurbish the old Alumni Gym to host the art department, keeping some historic aspects, like the hardwood gym floor, but taking away others, such as ceiling insulation, in order to reveal the structural elements of the building. In honor of McWethy’s donation, Alumni Gym was renamed McWethy Hall in 2002, and it has hosted the art department and the Peter Paul Luce Art Gallery ever since.9
Video – Interview with James McWethy, Class of 1965
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Interview with James McWethy, Class of 1965
I think I wanted to do something major for Cornell and I think the crying need at that point was art. When I was there, I took a couple art courses, but we had music and theater and art all jammed into Armstrong Hall. And Armstrong, and that’s the Armstrong Hall of then, before anything was done to expand it, and it, it was a crying need.
But you may or may not know this, you probably do, that the plan was to demolish Alumni Hall. I think the blessing was that they didn’t have enough money to fund the demolition, and it wasn’t my idea to do art there. Certainly as soon as it was suggested I jumped on the idea too, holy cow.
Architecturally it’s a beautiful building. It’s different than most of the buildings on campus in a sense it doesn’t fit with the red brick, white trim, but I’ve heard people express the opinion, people in the art department, that architecturally is probably the most interesting building on campus.
I mean one there’s one little surprise is that when they removed the suspended ceiling in the upper level, all of a sudden these beautiful wood beams that nobody even, nobody even knew they were there. That makes the building.
Well, this may sound funny. Um, you know, walking through the building when it’s empty is great. But what takes it up another whole level is when I walk through it and there’s students in there. And then all of a sudden, holy cow, you know, every, every dollar spent is worth well. Just just pride, pride in the school.
And one thing that a work ethic, I mean a determination to to do something. I just believe in being very, very aggressive, very ambitious, working hard. I don’t know that a college choice actually makes you into that, but, that’s something that I hope, that people would leave Cornell with a passion.
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Related Sources:
- “Editorially,” The Cornellian, November 1907, Cornellian Records, Vol. 29, College Archives. ↩︎
- “Students Raise $10,000 to Start New Gymnasium Movement,” The Cornellian, November 1907, Cornellian Records, Vol. 29, College Archives. ↩︎
- “Laying of Gymnasium Corner Stone,” The Cornellian, October 12, 1908, 12. Accessed October 5, 2018. ↩︎
- “Program for the dedication of the Alumni Gymnasium,” Promotional Pamphlet, College Archives. ↩︎
- “Cornell of Iowa is Building a New Gymnasium,” Press release, College Archives. ↩︎
- “McWethy Hall (1909).” http://www.cornellcollege.edu/about-cornell/buildings-tour/academic/mcwethy-hall.shtml. Accessed June 14, 2016. ↩︎
- “Cornell of Iowa is Building a New Gymnasium.” ↩︎
- “Dedication of McWethy,” College Archives. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
Cite this Page:
Brad Kane ’18 and Hannah Robertson ’18, “McWethy Hall,” Mount Vernon Iowa History Tours.