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"The House on the Hill" by Edwin Arlington Robinson, 1894 They are all gone away, The House is shut and still, There is nothing more to say. Through broken walls and gray The winds blow bleak and shrill: They are all gone away. Nor is there one to-day To speak them good or ill: There is nothing more to say. Why is it then we stray Around that sunken sill? They are all gone away, And our poor fancy-play For them is wasted skill: There is nothing more to say. There is ruin and decay In the House on the Hill: They are all gone away, There is nothing more to say.

The Old Gym then..... .......and the Old Gym now.

Have you ever wondered about that old building that sits abandoned on the hill behind the Ward Building? That is the "Old Gym" and those of us who have worked here for a while can remember going there for recreation, skating, and assemblies. Middle School basketball games and volleyball games were played in the gym. There were parties and events there for many, many years. In the glory days of the Old Gym, there was swimming, bowling and physical education. Then it closed one day and there was talk about if "she" was worth saving. The Old Gym has quite a history and her historic value includes an interesting past.

In 1924, Superintendent Ethel Poore asked the State Legislature for appropriations for a new building. Bids for a gymnasium for the Tennessee School for the Deaf were opened on November 28th, 1927. Work was begun a month later. The site of one of the old barns on the Island Home campus was chosen for its location.

Thomas Marr of the Nashville architecture firm Marr & Holman was chosen as the design team for the new building. Marr was a graduate of TSD and was the state’s first deaf architect. He designed plans that included two swimming pools (twenty by sixty feet), a large floor space for physical training, basketball, a bowling lane, locker rooms, and a balcony for spectators. The tower of a parapet tower with pyramid rooftop was designed to afford a view of the city of Knoxville. Marr’s work often included his use of parapet walls and Colonial design similar to the Ward Building.

Superintendent Alan Mealka proudly discussed in a recent interview the renovations that will begin soon to the Old Gym to return her to her 1928 "glory". Work is slated for completion by July of 2009. The old basement will be filled in and a new locker room and Student Union Area will be added for recreation. The building will receive new windows, heating and air conditioning, and a new roof. All of the original brick will be cleaned and restored. The wooden floors will be restored. The top observation area will be kept and used as a walking/running track. Even the pyramidal top will be reconstructed. (The old "top" was destroyed by lighting). Future plans for using the Old Gym as a multi-purpose recreation area for the students was motivation enough to continue the project. Mr. Mealka is very excited about retaining the Old Gym’s Colonial design brought to fruition by Thomas Marr. If you look very closely on old postcards of the early campus, you will be able to see the Old Gym, just as you will be able to see it restored like new in 2009!

There is "more to say…!"

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