Red Gym
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University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium
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| Location | 716 Langdon Street, Madison, Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates | 43°4′34.44″N 89°23′55.28″W / 43.0762333°N 89.3986889°WCoordinates: 43°4′34.44″N 89°23′55.28″W / 43.0762333°N 89.3986889°W |
| Built | 1894 |
| Architect | Conover, Allan; Porter, Lew |
| Architectural style | Romanesque revival |
| Part of | Bascom Hill Historic District (#74000065) |
| NRHP Reference # | 93001618 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 04, 1993 |
| Designated NHL | November 04, 1993 |
The University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium, also called "the Red Gym," is a building on the campus of University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was originally used as a combination gymnasium and armory beginning in 1894. Designed in the Romanesque revival style, it resembles a red brick castle. It is situated on the shores of Lake Mendota, overlooking Library Mall, and adjacent to Memorial Union.
Around the time of the construction of the building, labor riots had occurred in a number of cities in the United States, including the Haymarket riot in Chicago in 1886. Leaders in many cities saw the need for local armories to be prepared for worker strikes and uprisings. Thus, when funding the building, the Wisconsin legislature clearly saw its use by local militia. The architects, Conover and Porter, designed it with a dual purpose in mind: armory and gymnasium. Modifications were made to the plans when a new university president, Charles Adams, insisted that the second floor be capable of accommodating large assemblies. Construction began in fall, 1892, and was completed in September, 1894.
As originally constructed, the first floor of the Red Gym held military offices, an artillery drill room, bowling alleys, a locker room, and a swimming tank. The second floor contained a drill hall wide enough to permit a four-column battalion. The third floor was occupied by the gymnasium, which contained a baseball cage, gymnastic apparatus, and rowing machines. Two rifle ranges and a running track were on a level a few steps lower than the gym.
Over the next 30 years, the second floor assembly hall was the scene of speeches by William McKinley (1894), William Jennings Bryan (1912), Eugene Debs (1923), Upton Sinclair (who in 1922 had to promise not to be controversial), and the Republican state conventions of 1902 and 1904, which nominated Robert M. La Follette for governor.
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