No one tried to name that building.
Last week, I put up a post asking if anyone recognized this building. Oddly, I didn't get any replies.
Maybe the building was just too far back in the mists of time for anyone to recognize it.
The building was the W. E. Burnett Gymnasium, built after a call from President Carlisle to the alumni expressed the need for a first-class gymnasium on the campus. After Andrews Fieldhouse was constructed in 1929, it saw many alternate uses – perhaps the campus's first adaptive reuse of a building. It housed the ROTC department, served as a rifle range, a recreational hall (hopefully not at the same time), a canteen, a band room, a classroom, and finally, as the headquarters of the music and art department in the early 1950s.
It was named for Wilbur E. Burnett of the class of 1876, who was the largest donor and most tireless advocate of its construction.
It was demolished in 1956 to make way for the original Wightman Hall, a 4-story combination residence hall and dining hall.
Below is the 1896 fund-raising letter for the old gym.
