postcard

University Green Area Heritage Study

Historic Burlington Research Project - HP 206

 

Royall Tyler Theatre and Cage Heating Plant

116 University Place

The Royall Tyler Theatre. Photo by author, October 16, 2011

By the 1880s it had become apparent to faculty and administrators that a gymnasium was needed to end, as President Buckham described in 1902 “…those pranks and disorders which were often only the outbreaks of animal spirits which had no legitimate vent…”(1) In June of 1877, a committee had been organized to raise money for the construction of a gymnasium for the University of Vermont.(2) By 1883, John P. Howard, who as a benefactor of the University was working to renovate Old Mill and had funded the Lafayette Statue and Howard Fountain, was being pressed by students to support the construction of a gymnasium which, as the Cynic of 1883 explains, “…is an institution necessary to counteract the effects of hard study…”(3) Unfortunately, Mr. Howard decided to support other projects.

In June of 1900, President Buckham announced that the University had raised $10,000 in support of the Gymnasium building project and construction would begin on June 26th of the same year.(4) The construction project did not begin in earnest until April of the following year and was completed in October of 1901.(5) The Gymnasium had been designed by students of H.H. Richardson, namely Andrews, Jacques, and Rantoul.(6) The building was set back from University Place as John Allen still owned the property to the immediate west and south.(7)

The original Gymnasium is described as “…a structure of brick with brownstone trimmings, measuring 100 by 140 feet, containing a large hall measuring 86 by 100 feet…”(8) The Gymnasium included “…a bowling alley, shooting gallery, running gallery, lockers and bath rooms, swimming tank, armory, and instruction rooms.”(9) The hall was utilized for military drill and gymnastic training.(10)

Burlington Streets: University Place, Louis L. McAllister photograph, UVM Library Special Collections

 


Architecutural Detail, Royall Tyler Theatre. Photo by author, October 16, 2011

By 1915 an extension of 120 feet had been built.(11) Designed by A.L. Lawrence,(12) the extension had a section of glass roof and dirt floor and incorporated a baseball cage and indoor track.(13) The extension was described as having “…many windows and [a] sky-light thirty by ninety feet, in the south slope of the roof, the light is practically the same as out-of-doors.”(14) In support of the student battalion, an armory was also installed in 1915 in the north side of the Gymnasium.(15)

In November of 1950 a severe storm with hurricane force winds blew the roof off of the 1915 gymnasium extension and collapsed parts of the north, south, and east walls.(16) Two university vehicles stored inside the drill hall were completely demolished.(17) The estimated cost for repairing the extension was approximately $150,000.(18) The gymnasium extension had been reconstructed by June of 1951.(19)

"Storm Damage," Alumni Magazine 1951, 14

By 1960 the Gymnasium and its facilities had become mostly obsolete for the growing university community and its exponentially rising needs.(20) In 1960 the University began a $1 million fundraising drive with the final goal of $2.3 million to fund the Patrick Gymnasium complex.(21) By 1963, the “old” Gymnasium had been converted into offices and housed the ROTC.(22) Over the next few years the Gymnasium took on many uses, including serving as storage space for the former greenhouses, a testing lab for the Civil Engineering Department, and a research lab for forestry and zoology studies.(23) It had even been used to house sculpture projects.(24)

During this period the Theater Department, under the leadership of Professor Edward Feidner, had been developing a plan for a theatre complex, but due to budget constraints determined that the Gymnasium could serve as a promising alternative.(25) In 1971 the University accepted a plan by Burlington Associates to convert the Gymnasium into a theatre.(26) L. Pugh Contractors, Inc. was hired to renovate the Gymnasium for a total project cost of nearly $1.1 million.(27) The renovation plan included a pit-shaped theatre that accommodated 297 patrons and was fully handicap accessible.(28) The Theatre opened in March of 1974 and was named after Royall Tyler, a university trustee, lawyer and playwright, best known for his play “The Contrast.”(29) The Royall Tyler Theatre hosted the Annual Champlain Shakespeare Festival until 1989.(30)

Located on the north wall of the entry loggia, the Witches Fireback was placed on June 28, 1975 in honor of Professor Betty Bandel at her retirement. The Fireback, which dates to the mid-nineteenth century, depicts the three witches of Shakespeare’s Macbeth(31) and is a reference to Professor Bandel’s passion and academic excellence in the study of Shakespeare.(32) Professor Bandel was remarkable not only as an English professor, but also as a member of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in World War II.(33) Professor Bandel served from 1942 to 1945(34) and was the first woman awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the WAC.(35) Professor Bandel passed away at the age of 95 in 2008.(36)

The Witches Fireback. Photo by author, October 26, 2011



While the main building was converted into the Royall Tyler Theatre, the 1915 extension had been converted into the Central Heating Plant in 1969.(37) Due to its previous use as the baseball team’s indoor batting cage, the Heating Plant is affectionately referred to as the “Cage.”(38) The plant currently distributes steam to nearby buildings through underground piping and provides chilled water for air conditioning.(39) In 2002, Cage Heating Plant installed forty-eight 120-Watt solar panels manufactured by AstroPower, Inc. as a means of exploring alternative energy management.(40) The panels currently produce up to approximately 19 kilowatt-hours per day.(41)

Cage Heating Plant. Photo by author, October 26, 2011

Text and photos by Melissa Smith, 2011

(1)The Ariel: The Year Book of the University of Vermont, 1902, 222.
(2)“Committee on Gymnasium” Vermont Alumni Weeky, (May 7, 1924), 414.
(3)“Locals” The University Cynic, 1, no. 5 (September, 1883), 61; The Ariel: The Year Book of the University of Vermont, 1905, 221.
(4)“Gymnasium is Built,” Vermont Alumni Weekly, 3, no. 29, (May, 1924), 471.
(5)ibid.
(6)“Gymnasium to Theater,” Possibilities for Management of Vermont’s Build Environment, April 1976, 1.
(7)Joseph Hill, “UVM Building Manuscript,” University of Vermont Special Collections, Burlington, VT, 48.
(8)“Report of the Trustees of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College,” Vermont State Officer’s Report for 1901-1902 (L.B. Lyons Co., 1902), 6.
(9)ibid.
(10)ibid.
(11)“The Gymnasium” The Vermont Bulletin, 12, no. 5, (March 1915), 43.
(12)“Campus Planning Services Drawing File Index: University of Vermont,” (last modified November 18, 2005,) http://www.um.edu/`plan/dwg_index/
(13)“The Gymnasium” The Vermont Bulletin, 12, no. 5, (March 1915), 43.
(14)ibid.
(15)ibid., 42.
(16)Roof of UVM Cage Collapses and Brick Wall Crumbles to Ground,” Burlington Free Press, November 26, 1950.
(17)ibid.
(18)“The UVM Gymnasium: A Past with a Future,” The University of Vermont Alumni Magazine, 40, no. 3, (January, 1960), 14.
(19)ibid.
(20)ibid., 4-5.
(21)“$1 Million Gym Fund Drive Is On” UVM Bulletin, 57, no. 8 (February, 1960), 1.
(22)David J. Blow, “University of Vermont Green,” Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods, (Burlington: Chittenden County Historical Society, 1991), 177.
(23)“Planning for the fine arts,” The University of Vermont Alumni Magazine, 49, no. 3 (January, 1969), 31.
(24)ibid.
(25)David J. Blow, “University of Vermont Green” in Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods, (Burlington: Chittenden County Historical Society, 1991), 177.
(26)David J. Blow, “University of Vermont Green” in Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods, (Burlington: Chittenden County Historical Society, 1991), 177; “Gymnasium to Theater,” Possibilities for Management of Vermont’s Build Environment, April 1976, 1.
(27)“Work on UVM Theatre Project About to Begin,” Burlington Free Press, December 28, 1972.
(28)ibid.
(29)“Royal Tyler Theatre Dedication,” The University of Vermont Alumni Magazine, 54, no. 4, (June, 1974), 2.
(30)David J. Blow, “University of Vermont Green” in Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods, (Burlington: Chittenden County Historical Society, 1991), 177.
(31)“4. The Three Witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth,” http://www.uvm.edu/~wlipke/aruvm/toptenfour/php (accessed December 4, 2011).
(32)“An Influence On Generations of Students, UVM’s Betty Bandel Dies at 95,” (accessed December 4, 2011).
(33)Sylvia J. Bugbee ed., An Officers and a Lady, (Hanover: University Press of New England, 2004), xi.
(34)ibid.
(35)“Farewell to Two Wonderful Friends,” History Connections Vermont Historical Society, 2, no.4 (Summer 2008).
(36)“An Influence On Generations of Students, UVM’s Betty Bandel Dies at 95,” http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/81236/influence-on-generations-studnets-uvms-betty-bande/ (accessed December 4, 2011).
(37)“Campus Planning Services Drawing File Index: University of Vermont,” (last modified November 18, 2005,) http://www.um.edu/`plan/dwg_index/
(38)“Fact Sheet #1 The Central Heating and Cooling Plant” UVM Energy Systems. www.uvm.edu/~uvmppd/utilities/Central_Plant_1_Final.pdf (accessed December 5, 2011).
(39)ibid.
(40)“The University of Vermont’s Solar Energy Project,” (last modified August 21, 2002,) http://www.uvm.edu/solar
(41)ibid.