The New Gymnasium Building 
as Franklin Field can easily be imagined. 
The reinforced concrete systeme de Valliere 
having been selected as the structural scheme, 
the foundations were also made in concrete. 
They took the form of piers, over a hundred 
in number, acting as long legs for the struc¬ 
ture and starting upon solid rock, sometimes 
forty feet below the grade. Upon this sub¬ 
structure the building rests, entirely inde¬ 
pendent of the earth filling. The fioors, 
too, are of concrete, in which material are 
also formed the supporting girders, spanning 
in some cases distances of thirty feet. 
In the basement, half of the main building 
is devoted to the swimming pool. This is 
ioo feet long, in order to provide for all 
sorts of aquatic sports, and it has a depth of 
four feet six inches at one end, at the other 
nine feet. 11 is entirely surrounded by marble 
wainscotting and on three sides bv a capacious 
platform. Overlooking the pool is a gallery 
whence two hundred spectators can view the 
water sports amid surroundings which are 
artistically impressive by virtue of spacious 
proportions and a superb simplicity. The 
rowing room is a large apartment capable of 
being used for many other purposes than that 
for which it is named, on account of only 
a few winter months’ indoor practice ot 
the crew. Besides the boxing and fencing 
rooms, the remainder of the basement is de¬ 
voted to the home and visiting teams, whose 
comfort is assured by means of showers, 
lavatories, lockers, drying and hospital 
rooms. 
Ascending the stairways to the mezzanine 
floor, the visitor reaches the gallery over¬ 
looking the pool and the various rooms with 
special purposes located in the wings. In 
one of these the physical director of the 
University makes his headquarters, and, in 
the room adjoining, measures newly arrived 
students, recording the data for purposes of 
noting the effects of the physical training. 
The spaces under the towers on this floor 
are in effect the main entrance halls, for two 
imposing series of steps reach this level after 
traversing a terrace about fifty feet wide on 
their way from the public (Thirty-third) 
street. Privet hedges, clipped lawns and 
formal effects of planting have been studied 
for this terrace or parking with a view to 
still further enhance this extremely dignified 
and beautiful facade. 
On the second floor the large gymnasium 
room spans the whole width of the building, 
and receives a flood of light therefore from 
windows on both sides, not to mention a 
vast skylight in the roof. The extreme 
simplicity of this large hall and its undis¬ 
guised construction exemplify the efficient 
meeting of desired ends. The steel work 
of the roof is uniformly kept at a height of 
twenty feet six inches above the floor in 
order that all modern gymnasium appliances 
such as swinging rings, climbing ladders and 
trapezes can be used with freedom and con¬ 
venience. 
Upon the same floor as the gymnasium 
room and in close connection with it are the 
locker rooms occupying the wings. Served 
with an effective system of ventilation, fif¬ 
teen hundred of these lockers are already 
provided in a single tier of height. By tak¬ 
ing advantage of iron galleries and placing 
another tier above, twice this number may 
be obtained. Further expansion is offered 
by the towers. Near the summits of these 
are located the electric pumps, which are 
part of the ventilating system. The building 
is heated by means of steam. Fresh air, 
purified by passing through sheets of cheese¬ 
cloth, is taken in at the basement and, after 
being heated is carried through the building 
by means of ducts. 
A training house is proposed to be built 
upon the vacant rectangle north of the gym¬ 
nasium,(upon the left of the block plan shown 
on page 19). This will connect the squash- 
courts with the main building by means of 
an underground tunnel. There is need, 
however, that such an addition be handled 
with care ; that the space be not over-built 
upon ; that the design of the training-house 
should be of the same spirit, and, if possible, 
by the same hand, as the larger building of 
which it cannot but be by nature a depend- 
ance. It should be the interest, indeed, of 
all friends of the University that no discord¬ 
ant neighbor shall ever mar the beauty 01- 
dispute the supremacy of the gymnasium 
building. 
