Ruel B. Gilbert Gymnasium
1937
In 1936, the old gymnasium was torn down. When the new gymnasium was completed, it was named the Ruel B. Gilbert Gymnasium for Ruel B. Gilbert, Florida Southern Honorary Chancellor, Trustee, and donor to the College. In 1971, further remodeling to both the interior and exterior of the building occurred. After The Little Pentagon was torn down, Gilbert Gymnasium became the home of Florida Southern's ROTC program.
Ruel B. Gilbert was a business man who started in the Oklahoma oil industry. He made over a million dollars from 1918-1929. Gilbert is also credited as one of the originators of the J.C. Penney Company department store chain. He was an avid philanthropist, known to donate his fortune to Methodist schools and churches. When Florida Southern College tore down its old gymnasium in 1936, Gilbert funded the construction of the new one. It was renamed in his honor in 1937. Gilbert served on the Florida Southern College Board of Trustees from 1944 to 1960, and received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities in 1940. The college named him Honorary Chancellor in 1939.
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