Gymnasiums

In Queen’s early years, the fledgling institution was focused on developing its academic buildings, and physical education facilities were considered as an afterthought.

In 1860, Queen’s set aside a single room in Summerhill as a gym. Only after persistent lobbying from students did the situation change. The fact that the campus was still largely in the country with abundant green space meant students could easily take up physical activities. But when, in 1877, the Queen’s Journal editorialized on the “desirability of a snow shoe club,” this wish quickly transformed into a more focused demand for sports infrastructure.

In 1880, the university made space available in Convocation Hall for a gymnasium, and handed authority over it to the Alma Mater Society. It was a makeshift affair with little equipment and funded by voluntary donation. The next year, the AMS sanctioned the creation of a Gymnasium Club, but without regular funding the gym soon slipped into disrepair and the Senate closed the facility.

With the blessing of Principal George Grant — himself a fervent advocate of physical activity — a Gymnasium Fund was initiated to build capital for a more adequate facility. In 1888, the Senate agreed to collect an annual $1 fee from all students to bolster the fund.

The students kept up the pressure, but financial hard times and the constant need for classroom space kept pushing the prospect of a gym further into the future. In 1896, the university designated the top floor of a new wooden building designed as a laboratory for mechanical engineering to a gymnasium, but in 1899, even this rudimentary facility was lost to classrooms.

Finally, in 1905, an AMS committee convinced the university to build a stand-alone gym. The student athletic fee was boosted to $3 to help shoulder the cost. Chancellor Sandford Fleming turned the sod. To save money, two Queen’s engineering professors oversaw the construction. On Jan. 12, 1907 Queen’s at last had its gymnasium.

Today known as Jackson Hall, the gym was modern in every respect, and included an Olympic-size pool, spacious gym, locker rooms, boxing ring, running track and administrative offices. Results were immediate. The availability of a hardwood gym, for instance, gave birth to competitive basketball at Queen’s. Now they had a real home-court advantage and promptly won the intercollegiate championship in 1906-07.

The pursuit of a healthy body did not let up. The AMS asserted its control over campus athletics through the Athletic Board of Control. In 1931, a new and expanded gym described by the Queen’s Review as “the ne plus ultra of gymnasiums,” was opened on Union Street in a building that became known as the Physical And Health Education Centre, or "the PEC" (now part of Mitchell Hall).

Until the 1960s, all incoming undergraduates were obliged to pass a physical fitness test on arrival at Queen’s. Participatory sports entered the mainstream of Queen’s culture.

What began in a cramped single-room gym in Summerhill in 1860 today flourishes in the ARC –the sprawling Athletics and Recreation Centre that opened in 2009. Each academic year, 97% of the Queen’s student population visits the ARC.