Red Cross Building
Site: Was near the site of The Modlin Center. It is no longer standing.
Constructed: 1918
Demolished: Spring, 1936
On April 25, 1918 the Board of Trustees agreed to make the campus available to the government for use as a hospital for the remainder of the war. On June 1, 1918 the entire property was leased for use by the Surgeon General for a period of 13 months. The Westhampton College dormitory was converted for use as “General Hospital #2.”
For the academic year 1918-1919, students moved back to the old downtown campus. While the University was operating downtown, the Red Cross constructed a recreation hall near the site of what is now Booker Hall on the current campus. This recreation center was used by soldiers being treated at the hospital.
When students returned to campus in the fall of 1919, the Red Cross Building continued in use as a recreation center, but this time by Westhampton College students. The building became home to Westhampton College’s music department and athletic department and was used as a multi-purpose space for Westhampton College meetings and events. The building had not been planned as a gymnasium, but the students improvised and used the stage as a badminton court.
In the spring of 1936 a wrecking crew appeared on campus to tear down the Red Cross Building. The functions that had been housed there were moved to the newly finished Woman’s Building which was later named Keller Hall. In March 27, 1936 the Collegian published a poem dedicated to the old Red Cross Building:
"Departing eye sore
Though we won’t see you more
We express our gratitude
Please understand our attitude
And in future gym classes in winters
We’ll remember you – and your splinters."
Sources:
Rosenbaum, Claire Millhiser. A Gem of a College: The History of Westhampton College, 1914-1989
University of Richmond Magazine Spring 1983, Vol. 46, No. 2; Winter 1993, Vol. 55, No. 2