Bear Down Gym
Our architecture tells our story, and Bear Down Gym — now Bear Down Building — is a crucial chapter. One of several campus buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, the school’s first gym has undergone many changes since its completion in 1926 and remains an important symbol of both the school’s past and its ability to keep pace with the present.
When Bear Down Gym — formerly the Men’s Gymnasium — was finished in 1926, it was among the largest and most modern structures of its kind in the West. Designed by Old Main architect Roy Place, it served many functions in its early years, including as a place to register for classes and a hall for hosting dances. The last men’s basketball game was played there in early 1973, when the team moved over to the then-new — and significantly bigger, and air-conditioned — McKale Memorial Center.
After a long period serving various office and administrative functions (its court was covered up by carpet squares), Bear Down Gym underwent yet another transformation, restoring the building’s historic elements while integrating a new three-story steel structure combining new offices, study areas and student support spaces.
Today, the Bear Down Building is part of the award-winning Student Success District, a nine-acre mini campus blending some of the building’s older and historic architecture — including Bear Down and Main Library — with new construction, a brick-and-mortar example of the university preserving the past while continuing to evolve.