Pool(s)
Before the Butler Center Pool you’d have to go swimming in Fontbonne which originally was building dedicated to Physical Education and sports. Built in the 1930's a building dedicated to women in athletcis was remarkable. The pool has since been covered to accommodate the need for more classrooms and fewer pools however it still exists in more ways than one. The literal floor of the pool is still under the building but once again unless you have a key you can’t access it. The pool deck is still a part of the building and many of us have been there without realizing.
Fontbonne is peculiar because of the way the spaces have evolved and changed over time. The transition from an athletic center to academic building has not been easy and the building reflects this hard transitions. Although the pool is now covered it still is part of the building and the mysteries of Fontbonne Hall. The pool deck helps to keep the pool alive in Fontbonne and maintains the history of the building as an athletic center. The haphazard way of preserving the building is what allows it to be peculiar. This allows for saving parts of the building such as the pool deck but also makes the space more functional and useful for us all.
The story of Fontbonne Hall here is not the most famous, chances are you may have never known Fontbonne had a pool. However, most of us have heard the story of the construction of Fontbonne hall. Legend has it two sisters were charged with the construction of Fontbonne Hall and they had differing architectural opinions. As they could not agree Sister Antonia drew a line down the middle and told them each to create a building, whatever they wanted to create, as long as they met in the middle. These sisters were already bitter and so the story goes that there was some sabotage involved but in the end the buildings met up where they were supposed to. The result is one of the most confusing buildings on our campus, to the point that there are maps inside the building. If you want to go from one side of the building to the other, it is easier to walk outside and enter a separate door. Once again like with Mendel Hall the building is the only evidence for the story. The story of the construction of Fontbonne Hall also works to preserve the mystery of the building, without the story it would just be a confusing building.
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