Ammons Hall, 1930
From CSU's Sense of Place: A Campus History of Colorado's Land-Grant University, by James E. Hansen, Gordon A. Hazard, and Linda M. Meyer. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University, 2018.
Architect - Eugene G. Groves
Builder – C. E. Walker and Company of Denver
711 Oval Drive
The Women’s Building, later named Ammons Hall, opened for the fall semester of 1921. This was the second campus building designed by architect Eugene G. Groves. The Italian Renaissance Revival styled structure was built by the C. E. Walker Construction Company of Denver for $145,000 for female students to have athletic and recreational facilities of their own. It was officially dedicated on February 9, 1922 as part of a gala four-day program of activities. It was often referred to by the male students as “No Man’s Land”. The building featured a 20’ x 60’ indoor swimming pool, a small “gymnasium” on the west and a “little theatre” on the east along with several multi-use rooms for meetings, activities and social functions. This was the first swimming pool built on the campus.
The building was heavily used for sorority and fraternity dances, conferences, and meetings by all Aggie students, both female and male. In many ways it served as the “Student Union” for many years before the Johnson Hall Student Union was built in 1936. During the summer of 1935, Mr. Henderson directed a redecoration of the interior. Mr. Henderson was an interior designer with the Daniels & Fishers Department Store located in downtown Denver. A Spanish-style motif was used to provide a fresh modern look to the interior.
Over the years, attempts to secure funding to build a full-sized gymnasium addition onto the west side of the building failed. Too small for basketball, the women could only use the small “gymnasium” on the west side of Ammons Hall for volleyball and other games while they had to use the old gymnasium in the basement of Old Main for basketball games and large activities like folk dancing. It should be noted the Old Main gym was not quite large enough to accommodate a regulation size basketball court. It barely had room for just a few spectators.
There has been some misconception as for which person Ammons Hall was named. Some say that it was named to honor Theodosia G. Ammons, a popular Professor of Domestic Science at Colorado Agricultural College. Professor Ammons died on July 17, 1907 at the age of 45. In fact, it was actually named for her brother, Elias. Elias M. Ammons died on May 20, 1925. Following the suggestion of Mrs. Charles A. Lory to the State Board of Agriculture, on June 3, 1925 Colorado Governor Clarence Morley officially renamed the building “Ammons Hall” to honor former Colorado Governor Elias M. Ammons for his service on the State Board of Agriculture and his leadership in pushing to get the building constructed. A portrait of Governor Elias M. Ammons has been displayed for many years inside the building.
By the mid-1950s, the heavy scheduling of campus activities in the building made it necessary to curtail non-campus meetings and social affairs in Ammons. By the fall of 1958, all activities not connected with physical education had to find accommodations in other buildings on the campus. In the fall of 1959, Ammons Hall was officially turned over to the Department of Physical Education.
In the fall of 1978, Ammons Hall was placed on the “National Register of Historic Places”. On August 21, 1980, a fire did $100,000 damage to the stage and dance room on the east side of the building. During the repairs, dance classes were moved to the Stock Judging Pavilion and the old Glover Veterinary Hospital.
In October 1996, dance classes were moved to the General Services Building to make way for a $1.2 million renovation of the building so that Career Services could utilize the space. During its reopening in February 1998, one of the changes most noticed was the decision to seal and fill in the old swimming pool with soil so that the administrative offices of the CSU Career Center could be constructed over the top of the old pool. The old swimming pool had been dry and used as a storage space since 1982. Marble from the original locker rooms in the old basement was used as counter tops for the Career Center.
In 2007 it became the home of the Office of Admissions and the University Welcome Center.
Ammons Hall Interior, 1939
Sources by Gordon Hazard
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