Property Record
506 EMERSON ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | ELISHA D. SMITH GYMNASIUM |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | SMITH BUILDING / STUDENT UNION |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 58046 |
| Location (Address): | 506 EMERSON ST |
|---|---|
| County: | Rock |
| City: | Beloit |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1903 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1981 |
| Historic Use: | recreational building/gymnasium |
| Architectural Style: | Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | PATTON AND MILLER |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Near East Side Historic District |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | 1/7/1983 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: | Multiple Resources of Beloit |
| Additional Information: | Two story plus basement red brick structure with hipped, red tile roof in a Georgian Revival mode, featuring an overscaled frieze and overhanging eaves and exceptionally large windows (probably enlarged); pedimented entrance. Patton Miller predecessor firms also designed three other Beloit College buildings (c.f.): Eaton Chapel (1891-1892) and Emerson Hall (1897-1898; NRHP, 1979), and the Pettibone World Affairs Center (Carnegie Library, 1903-1905). Replacing the wooden gymnasium built in the 1870s, the Smith gym served as the college gymnasium, indoor track, swimming pool, and basketball court until the construction of the college fieldhouse in the later 1940s and the addition of the cage, indoor track and pool thereafter (1950s). The gymnasium was designed by the architectural firm of Patton and Miller of Chicago, and the building was formally opened on Tuesday, June 21, 1904. Initially restricted to men's sports, it was eventually used by the college women as well. With the addition to the fieldhouse of the pool and indoor track, the building was converted into a student union (which function it still serves), the pool filled with debris, and in its place now stands the campus bookstore. The campus mailroom was installed in the basement of the building sometime in the 1960s, and is still there. There are offices at the north and south balconies of the second floor, offices for student organizations, for the Credit Union, the campus newspaper, and for the office of Personnel matters. |
|---|---|
| Bibliographic References: | (A) Historical SItes and Points of Interest in Rock County, Wisconsin, Rock County Tourism Council, 5/1994. (B) Robert H. Irrmann, "Data on Beloit College Vuildings," on file at RCHS Archives. (C) National Register of Historic Places, Nomination form, 1979, Emerson Hall. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |