GEER WANTS POOL AND GYM IN DORMITORY DISTRICT

The erection of a new gymnasium somewhere between Massachusetts avenue and the Freshman dormitories as soon as funds are available, and the immediate construction of a swimming pool as the first unit of such a plant--these are the outstanding features of Mr. W. H. Geer's report to President Lowell for the academic year 1922-23.

The Director of Physical Education devotes his report largely to a description of the need for additional indoor exercise facilities. The only important suggestion which he makes in connection with outdoor athletic equipment is the building of a new boathouse to meet the growing popularity of single sculling. The condensed text of his report follows:

"The facilities for outdoor exercise are reasonably adequate. The construction, now under way, of additional tennis courts on Soldiers Field, and the improvement of the undeveloped area there, will provide play spaces for many students who now find little opportunity to indulge in outdoor sports. Most of the present available area is used in connection with competitive athletics.

"Single sculling on the Charles River has become such a popular sport during the last few years that it will soon be necessary to have a separate boat house for the students participating in this form of exercise.

"While the facilities for outdoor exercise are not wholly adequate, contemplated improvements will soon make them quite satisfactory. However, the same cannot be said with reference to the indoor equipment. New England weather is such that the student who wants to take regular exercise and get it by participating in some game or other is almost forced to depend upon the use of indoor facilities during about six months of the college year. The policy of free election of exercise for Freshmen has worked so well that it is now impossible to accommodate all the students who would welcome an opportunity to use facilities similar to those for first year men.

Big Tree a More Bathtub

"The Freshman Athletic Building has facilities for about 300 men. The swimming pool on Holyoke street, though reserved almost exclusively for Freshmen, is so small that it fails to accomodate the first-year men who do not know how to swim. The University Squash Courts Building on Linden street now has twenty courts. The increased facilities at this plant will just about take care of the hundreds of men who want to play the game.

"The Hemenway Gymnasium serves about 1500 men who participate in some form of exercise quite regularly during the indoor season. The facilities at this plant fall far short of being ample to accomodate the number of men who would like to use the equipment. In fact the building would be used to capacity if the facilities were reserved exclusively for men in the graduate and professional schools.

Facilities Utterly Inadequate

"The demand on the part of students for an opportunity to participate in some form of wholesome exercise during the indoor season cannot possibly be met by the present facilities. Extensive alterations at the Hemenway Gymnasium, Squash Courts, and Freshman Athletic Building have failed to meet the ever-growing need of additional indoor space. The only possible solution seems to be the erection of a new plant to supplement the existing facilities. Such a plant should include facilities somewhat similar to those found in the Hemenway Gymnasium and in addition, a modern swimming pool. It might very properly be planned almost exclusively for undergraduates. This arrangement would provide the facilities needed for men in the college and would also permit the organization of an all-round program of activities in the Hemenway Gymnasium for other students in the University.

"Of the facilities suggested for the proposed plant for undergraduates, a swimming pool is by far the most urgent need. Hundreds of men would welcome the opportunity to elect swimming for their regular exercise if ample equipment were available.

"The immediate problem in connection with any plans for an indoor exercise building is the selection of a suitable site. The logical location for such a plant would be between Massachusetts avenue and the Freshman dormitories. With funds available to cover the cost of a modern swimming pool, it would seem to be in order to recommend such construction as soon as a satisfactory site can be provided. A swimming pool could be so constructed that it would become a definite unit of the proposed indoor exercise building when funds become available for that purpose."