Roble Gym or in full Roble Gymnasium was designed by Bakewell and Brown and built in 1931 for the women students at Stanford University. It is adjacent to Roble Hall, then the main women's dormitory. It replaced an earlier gymnasium for women also called Roble Gymnasium which was a temporary frame building with an adjacent swimming pool built in 1891 when the university opened. Roble Gym was run by the Athletics Department until the early 2000's, hosting a variety of athletics and fitness classes. In the Fall of 2005, the building began its transformation into the Drama Department’s performing arts complex. The Drama Department and its Dance Division are planning a $20 million renovation plan that will transform Roble into a center for dance on campus. The planned upgrade includes costume shops, stage shops, theaters and practice studios for rehearsals, all of which are in line with their commitment to teach world dance and performance techniques. As of 2011 the main performance space, Roble Studio Theater, is closed because of safety concerns, but, other rooms remain open for practice.
|