Seelye Indoor Athletic Center

User Note: Depending on where you viewed the previous entry, either walk back up the hill to the sidewalk or follow the sidewalk to the front of the next building, which is the Seelye Center. Feel free to explore around this site and walk down the hills to get a better view.

In addition to the Gymnasium that was attached to the Administration Building, another Gymnasium was constructed along Oakland Drive in 1924. The Oakland Gymnasium, also known as the Men’s Gym, was known as the largest gymnasium in any American teacher’s training institution at the time, as well as the largest gym devoted exclusively to men out of the other teacher training institutions. The building included many physical education spaces, such as a track and areas for field events, and was used for social events until the 1940s. The Oakland Gymnasium continued to serve as a physical education space until the early 2000s when it was incorporated into the Seelye Indoor Athletic Facility.

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Although the first gymnasium on Western’s campus was included in the addition to the Administration Building, a new state-of-the-art gym was constructed in 1924 by Henry Turner and Victor Thebaud. The Oakland Gymnasium’s dedication was held on June 19, 1925, and was attended by nationally famous athletic directors, such as Alonzo Stagg of the University of Chicago and Western’s own William H. Spaulding.

The gym was devoted exclusively to men once it was opened and the original gymnasium atop Prospect Hill was then used primarily by women. Included in these spaces was a regulation basketball court with three cross courts, a 14-lap cork track, locker rooms, a vaulting and jumping pit, a dirt floor for various field events, archery/golf alleys, handball courts, classrooms, offices, and a 50-caliber rifle range for use by the ROTC program.

Until 2001, the gym was used for physical education classes and events before being demolished. The façade of the building was salvaged and used for the new Seelye Indoor Athletic Facility that was constructed in 2003. The new facility is connected to Waldo Stadium and features classrooms, weight rooms, a practice field utilized by multiple sports teams, conference rooms, and locker rooms.

University Libraries. Rep. Campus Building Inventory - Yearly Summary, n.d. 

Knauss, James O. The First Fifty Years: A History of Western Michigan College of Education, 1903-1953. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan College of Education, 1953. 

Massie, Larry B. Brown and Golden Memories: Western Michigan University's First Century. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University, 2003. 

Carlson, Sharon; Glatz, Jason, WMU Facilities Management. “WMU Campus History” [storymap], https://campus-history.library.wmich.edu/index.html. (Accessed February 17, 2022)