The Battalion Special Section
Monday • March 2, 1998
1954
1958
1962
Aggies-
champit
G. Rollie White
Coliseum was dedi
cated in September.
m
In 1955,
expansion
the first
of G.
Rollie took place.
The annex included
wrestling, weight
training, social
dance and judo
rooms.
Graduation ceremonies were
held in G. Rollie in 1954.
G. Rollie next generation after DeWan
■
By Jeff Webb
Assistant sports editor
W hen Walter Penberthy hired his friend
Carl Tishler away from Ohio State to be
the head of the Department of Physical
Education at Texas A&M, he wanted a man who
would spawn the growth of athletics at the
small agricultural college. When Tishler
arrived, he pushed for the construction of a
building of his own design that would be
the mainstay of Aggie collegiate athlet
ics for years to come. In 1954, he got
his facility.
Enter G. Rollie White Coliseum.
DeWare Fieldhouse, built in
1924, served as the main
home for physical educa
tion classes on campus and
was also the site for Aggie
basketball games. It had
seating for 3,500, hand
ball courts, showers,
lockers, and dressing
rooms. An auxiliary
gym was added to
DeWare in 1929. It
only cost $8,000 to
construct and con
tained a basketball
court, handball
courts and a huge
physical training
room. However,
even this measure
could not hold up
to the demand for
high-quality facili
ties in the Texas A&M Physical Education
Department.
Tishler stressed the need for an additional physical
education facility to house the growing department.
When the time came for Tishler’s suggestions for the
specific requirements needed for the building, little
notice was given. Architect Richard Coke was hired to
build the facility and it was Tishler’s responsibility to
outline the plan for the place. Tishler worked numer
ous all-nighters in order to come up with an oudine
for construction. Unfortunately, he did not get to see
the floor plans before Coke began construction due
to tight time constraints.
What resulted from the building efforts was a
structure that many described as a “football stadium
with a roof over it.” The coliseum was dedicated on
September 18, 1954 and was named after G. Rollie
White, Class of 1895, who was a member of the Texas
A&M Board of Directors for 30 years and served as
president from 1944 to 1955. Tishler was pleased with
the building, but felt it would never serve many other
purposes other than athletic endeavors.
“The building is a good basketball facility, a fair
physical education facility, but it is lacking as an audi
torium due to acoustical problems,” Tishler said.
The Physical Education Department moved into
the offices on the first and second floors of the
building, while the athletic department used the
dressing rooms for basketball players, basketball
coaches and a small room for game officials. The
original southern end of the building was where the
basketball scoreboard hangs now. The first expan
sion on G. Rollie only took a year to happen. In
1955, an annex was constructed on the south end of
the Coliseum, housing weight-training, social
dance and wrestling rooms.
The next G. Rollie expansion would not take
place until 1967 when air conditioning was
installed in the facility. By 1972, the e
Coliseum was used to capacity and, with the
sion of women to the University in 1963, C
would need growth once again.
In 1973, a women’s locker rooi > i I
first floor. Lockers were installed in the met
dressing room and a lermie hall rooffiMT'l
storage room were all added. thu
In 1980, the “East Kyle” addition was cou?n’s
adjacent to the Kyle Field stands. It was attacfer <
the 1955 G. Rollie expansion. Men’s stafflock-» pi
constructed along with new showers. A tu ae
added for easier access to the ( oliseum (looiAdll
Kyle” was rededicated in 1985 as the Read B lol
The building would see its last renov; r c
when a three-story addition to the south er e a)
Rollie and a partial basement was constructed wad
with now .ind improved landsc aping, i best f ol|
ovations cost the University $ 1,321,280 to con to
Despite the changes, G. Rollie White CeAlsol
has remained one of the most intimate ba:
venues in the nation. When Tishler first la
upon the place, it embodied what he envisii
a facility that would sufficiently house tl
activities of students in their athletic
pursuits, and afford them the high
est comfort when doing so. G.
Rollie’s time has passed. Blue-
chip recruits demand the best
facilities, and Reed is what
awaits. Although the new
arena will be accepted
with open arms, students
must not forget to appre
ciate the care that G.
Rollie gave its inhabi
tants and the dream of
Carl Tishler.
A&M moves on to next arena
with Aggie Muster in April
By Amanda Smith
Staff writer
Rollie White
-Coliseum bid
farewell to Texas
A&M basketball, but not to the
University, in the final game of
the season against Baylor Saturday
night.
G. Rollie opened as the home of
Texas A&M basketball in 1954 and has
since become the home of Texas A&M
volleyball, Muster, graduation and a host of
other ceremonies.
With the talk of the Reed Arena opening on
April 21 for the Muster ceremony, G. Rollie has
received a push into the pages of Texas A&M history.
As much as the building is a part of the University’s
past, it is part of the future.
G. Rollie will still be the home of A&M’s volleyball
team for the 1998-99 season. Students will still meet
for kinesiology classes and pick up their athletic tick
ets in G. Rollie after the season ends.
It is the opening of Reed Arena, rather than the
closing of G. Rollie White, for Muster on April 21 and
subsequent events that brings more dramatic change
to Texas A&M.
Angela Wallace, the sub-chair of the Muster
programs committee and a senior psychology
major, said Reed Arena will provide a new home
for the ceremony.
“I feel like Muster is finding a home in Reed
Arena,” Wallace said. “It’s going to be a beautiful place
for a beautiful ceremony.”
Wallace said Muster has been held in locations all
over campus, including the steps of the Texas A&M
Administration Building, outside the Memorial
Student Center, Kyle Field and most recently G. Rollie.
Brian Wood, the Muster chair for speaker selec
tion and a senior biology major, said past crowds
have faced lines and a filled G. Rollie on the night of
Muster.
“In the past, students have had to get to G.
Rollie at 4 p.m. to attend a 7 p.m. ceremony,”
Wood said. “In the past, we were limited by space.
It’s going to be special to have Muster in Reed. I
think that (Reed Arena) will give students an
opportunity to find out what the Muster ceremo
ny is all about.”
Reed Arena is a 12,500 seat-arena, a 5,000-seat
increase over G. Rollie.
The $550,000 renovations completed on G. Rollie
during the 1993-94 basketball season cannot com
“W.
Mo
pare with the new $36 million arena, Reed
manager Stuart Taylor said.
“Reed Arena is absolutely beautiful IL^,,
friendly,” Taylor said. “You can’t even con;,
Rollie to Reed Arena. You would be taking, jq
year-old building and putting it up against *^ J
ern facility.” 1 w
The May 1998 graduation ceremonies on!
and 16 will be held in Reed Arena, instead ofG^
Don Gardner, the associate registrar of Adm 1
and Records, said the opening will provide mot ‘
ing than G. Rollie.
“They are going to issue 10 tickets instead
tickets,” Gardner said. “It has been hard on tht
lies in the past because they were limited tost
ets. I see the advantage that everyone will have ’
seat. We are almost doubling the (seating) capf.’*"
the new arena.” ^ .
Reed Arena is unique to Texas A&M. Stuarts ’ ol l
maroon theater-style seats provide comfort
arena that can host concerts, rodeos, ice shor in 11
special events. neiol
“Reed Arena will house a number of s: t( ^ uc .
events,” Stuart said. “The whole backstage, thf ^ u '|
trical outlets and the concrete floors are caterpd
concerts. It is a state-of-the-art arena, and 1^0
that it will become a part of the Texas A&M let Co 'M
1976
A&M’s centennial class graduated in
1976.
1980
“East Kyle”
completed and
attached to G.
Rollie in 1980. A
service tunnel was
added for easy
access to the coli
seum floor.
m
ippiH
J§s JIN
■
The A&M basketball team won the
SWC championship in 1980.
1984
In 1985, a three-
story addition
became a part of G.
Rollie.
Bob Hope visited A&M in 1981