1301 Sunnyside Ave. 66045-7567
The first Robinson Gymnasium was completed in 1907 and dedicated during commencement 1908; it was built on land originally owned by Charles Robinson, a founder of Lawrence and first governor of Kansas, and named for him and his wife, Sara T.D. Robinson.
Students had organized gymnasiums in the basement and north tower of Fraser Hall and in the basement of Snow Hall in the 1880s and 1890s, but only in 1905 was funding approved for a gym. James Naismith, a KU professor of physical culture since 1898 and inventor of basketball, was instrumental in the building’s design. University functions such as commencement and lectures took place in its auditorium. By the 1960s it was outmoded and overcrowded, and the decision to build a humanities building on its site was made. It was razed in November 1967.
State Architect James Canole and Dwight C. Brown and Associates of Topeka designed the concrete and yellow-brick building, completed in April 1966 east of Allen Fieldhouse; a $6 million addition designed by Lund and Balderson of Overland Park opened in August 1980. Robinson now houses the School of Education’s Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences; faculty and staff offices; biokinetic, kinesiology and physiology labs; classrooms and multipurpose rooms; dance studios; and lifetime sports facilities. It also has locker rooms, showers, weight rooms, a natatorium and other facilities for faculty and staff. When the Student Recreation Fitness Center opened in September 2003, intramurals and personal fitness facilities for students moved to the new building.
View Photo Library images of Robinson Health and Physical Education Center
See also:
Student Recreation Fitness Center;
Haworth Hall;
Wescoe Hall
Copyright © 2007 by the University of Kansas
Email Page
Print Page