Bynum Gymnasium | |
 | |
 | |
| Full name | William Preston Bynum, Jr. Hall |
|---|---|
| Location | 222 East Cameron Avenue Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 35°54′42″N 79°2′59″W / 35.91167°N 79.04972°W |
| Owner | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Capacity | N/A |
| Field size | 111 by 77 feet (34 by 23 m) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1904 |
| Renovated | 1923, 1938, 1960, 1965 |
| Closed | Converted to office space in 1939 |
| Construction cost | $25,000 |
| Architect | Frank P. Milburn (1904) Atwood and Weeks (1939) Gudger, Baber, and Wood (1964)[1] |
| General contractor | V.P. Loftis (1939)[1] Delta Construction Company (1964)[1] |
| Tenants | |
| North Carolina Tar Heels (NCAA) Men's basketball (1910–1923) | |
Bynum Hall (formerly Bynum Gymnasium) is the current home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate Admissions office and was the first home of North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team. At an executive meeting on October 2, 1903, school President Francis Preston Venable announced that former North Carolina Supreme Court justice William Preston Bynum donated $25,000 to have a gymnasium built in honor of his grandson who was a student at the university and had died due to typhoid fever. Architect Frank P. Milburn drafted plans for the structure, which were then approved by Bynum and the university's board of trustees. The building was designed to have a Greek architecture influence and had three stories with an above-ground basement. It originally contained a swimming pool, gymnasium, office spaces, and other rooms for various sports like boxing and fencing. The building started construction by June 1904 and was completed by February 1905.
Upon opening, the pool was reportedly very cold, prompting water boilers to be added later in the year. The building was formally presented during commencement in May 1905. The gym was placed into control of Dr. Robert Lawson, a skilled gymnast and the former coach of the school's baseball team. The gymnasium served as a venue for various school dances. Bynum Gym hosted the gymnastics team and later the men's basketball team, which formed in late 1910 and had its first game in the venue on January 27, 1911. The Tar Heels played thirteen seasons in Bynum Gym before moving to the Tin Can. After the basketball team's departure, Bynum was still used by students for activities; however, the pool was closed in 1924 due to having an inadequate filtration system. Following a renovation in 1938 that added a third floor, the journalism department and the University News Bureau moved into the building, sharing the building with the University Press that had occupied the basement. Over the years the journalism department moved out, some rooms were used as classrooms or storage. The building now serves as an administration building that includes the Dean of Graduate Studies and university counsel.