It has long been the desire of the officers of this institution to have a gymnasium, but there were so many other improvements needed that there seemed little prospect of the wish being gratified, until a way very unexpectedly opened in the summer of 1908. The late John Porterfield left a large part of his estate to charities of various kinds and our institution was one of the beneficiaries of his generosity. No sooner did our trustees find themselves in possession of the money than they decided to devote it to the erection of a gymnasium. Mr. T. E. Billquist was selected as architect and presented plans in the fall of 1908. The usual policy of having the wood work done by the foreman and the boys in the carpenter shop was adopted and the entire school term was spent in making the window frames, sashes, door frames, moldings, etc. The brick walls were built and ready for the roof by the time the pupils returned in the following fall and the boys had plenty of work to do from that time on until the completion of the building in the summer of 1910. It is one hundred and ten feet long from end to end with a twelve-foot basement containing a swimming pool, shower baths, toilets, dressing rooms, and bowling alleys. The gymnasium is eighty feet long, fifty feet wide and twenty-one feet high with an incline running track ten feet above the main floor. It is liberally equipped with gymnasium apparatus of the latest pattern. The building stands on a conspicuous site near the center of our grounds and in architectural appearance is a worthy companion of the other buildings on the premises.
The Deaf Awareness committee recommended that our “Little Gym” which was formerly called “Girls’ Gym” in 1964 be renamed to its original name “Porterfield” Gymnasium. The sign name for Porterfield Gymnasium is “P” tapped on the shoulder a few times.
By James DeBee, Class of 1976
