HPER Building

The west half of the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Building (offices) was opened for fall 1970, with the remainder of the building—gyms, locker rooms, and handball courts—opening later in the quarter. The delay was due to a strike that halted construction for two months during the summer. Designed by Lindsey and Maples, the building cost $3.3 million. The contractor was V. L. Nicholson.

The 175,000-square-foot building was originally designed as a men’s physical education building but immediately was used for both women and men, housing the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. Although the school was disbanded and departments placed directly under the College of Education or College of Human Ecology (now combined as the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) in the 1990s, the building continued to be designated as the HPER Building.

The structure was designed as three connected units. The office-classroom unit has three floors, with the lower level housing an instructional swimming pool, the first floor containing classrooms, and the upper two floors having office and support space for faculty and staff. A connecting unit building was designed to house research and instructional laboratories. The largest unit of the building was designed with four large, general purpose gymnasia, two four-wall handball-paddleball courts, one glass-wall court, two squash courts, dressing facilities, and viewing facilities for all games. The gymnasia were deliberately designed with only a fan system (no air-conditioning) in accord with common practice of the day.

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  • Title HPER Building
  • Author
  • Keywords HPER Building
  • Website Name Volopedia
  • Publisher University of Tennessee Libraries
  • URL
  • Access Date July 10, 2025
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update October 8, 2018