The Gymnasium

 

The Gymnasium

By

Vicki L. Bishop

While most of us have been to the Dixon Middle School gym for various events, many forget that it was not the original gymnasium. 

The high school that was originally constructed in 1926 did not have a gymnasium.  In the depression years, a works program called WPA built many gymnasiums for schools like Dixon that were in need.  Some such structures still exist today and usually are brick or stone.  Many examples in the Ozarks sport native giraffe stone architecture.

I could not find evidence within the WPA records of any projects within Dixon; however, many records are not exactly easy to access.  The former gymnasium built around 1939 is consistent in architecture with other documented works projects in the Ozarks and was built within the same time frame as the other documented projects.  Such WPA projects were completed to keep men working in a time of high unemployment and to provide the community with an anchor for sports and community activities.

The building held a basketball court, wooden bleachers, two locker rooms, and a stage area where plays and other performances were held. The scale of the building and basketball court were much smaller than what is considered regulation size in modern times.  For example, when passing a ball inbounds, there was hardly room to stand out of bounds without stepping over the line.   The court area was much smaller than modern courts, probably about 2/3 scale.

It was middle school and we had our own building, and our own gymnasium and we really didn’t care if it wasn’t as great or as big as what someone else had—it was ours!  We had our own teams and cheerleaders and marching/concert bands.  Middle School was independent in almost all ways from high school.  We had our own identity.  Most other schools our size or in the Frisco league did not have a middle school.  Having our own school set us apart from other places.  It worked.

Giant boilers in a basement provided heat for the structure.  The hardwood floor was carefully refinished each summer and glistened with wax and polish.  There was no air conditioning.  One lone exhaust fan was in place but using it didn’t do much good.   Since it was small, most events filled the bleachers, and it was usually hot to an extreme when full of spectators.  The acoustics?  Loud.  A loud, that only a basketball fan from Dixon would understand.  Odor? The unmistakable smell of years of dust and rust and sweat and wood and stone and uncirculated air.  It wasn’t bad; it just was.

The original gym really was like something you would see in a movie. 

AI enhanced photo of the old gymnasium constructed around 1939. It was believed to be a WPA project. 

Part of the concrete banner in above the front door of the original gymnasium was discarded on the grounds during demolition.  The “ON” from “DIXON” remains visible.

 

Around the mid to late 80s a new gymnasium was constructed.  In my tenure of being a student locally, I don’t remember there ever being much ‘new’ in any of the school buildings of that time, so I was anxious to see the results. 

While the modern gym, that still stands today, was bigger and newer and more efficient my very first impression was that it lacked character.  The old gym was loaded with character, while the new gym was rather sterile.  The new gym was clean and big with decent locker rooms and an office but retained little character.  Typical of old architecture, character that is lost usually never resurfaces.

In saying that, I don’t mean to take away from any of those persons who worked so hard to get us a new gym.  As I said before, “new” was not really a word we were familiar with regarding school structures at that time.  New was nice; and I had already moved on to the high school, so I was probably more critical at that moment because the high school didn’t have anything ‘new’. 

The modern gym has served generations well.  Banners from several middle school teams hang on the wall in celebration of undefeated seasons.  I have been told that this gym will remain in use for an undetermined amount of time despite the remainder of the school closing.  My first year playing basketball in the original gym was its 42^th year; my first year of attendance would have been its 40^th year.  If my math is close to correct on the construction of the modern gym, this is about its 37^nd year.  This is something that is difficult to wrap my head around.  The ‘modern’ gym is almost as antique as the original gym was when I attended.  

Some of my best memories from my time in middle school revolve around the gym area.   The early fall basketball practices.  Coach Jerry McPherson and his ‘hell week’ of conditioning.  Eighth grade graduation and my first formal dress.   Working backstage of several of Jeff Williams musicals.   Performing with the band or choir during assemblies.  Sitting on the steps out back with my friends waiting for everyone to gather so we could walk to Clark’s drugstore together, and those beautiful pine trees off to the side.  Whose idea was that to put those there?

A skyward look at the pine trees that flank the west side of the middle school.

Over ninety years later, the gym that replaced the gym that was built to anchor a community, will still serve that community faithfully for youth sports and other select events.  At least for a while it will.   While we said goodbye to the original gym many years ago, it lives on in many hearts and memories of those who learned how to be a Bulldog within its walls.  If only those walls could talk….

The east side of the gymnasium as it exists today. 

 

 

A painting by Delores Miller, a former Dixon Middle School teacher that was found during recent remodeling that had been covered.  Behind the artwork, notice a small area of the original giraffe rock (painted over) that was part of the gymnasium built in 1939. 

**Author post script:  Thank you to Wanita Humphrey’s contribution of the old gymnasium construction date of 1939 as her mother had told her that they watched the building progress and wondered if it would be ready for her graduation—and it was.  Her mother, Roma Campbell, was the first to graduate out of that gymnasium and her daughter, Wanita was the last class to graduate out of it in 1959 as the new high school and gym had been completed across town.