The old armory and gymnasium building was converted to a playhouse for Oregon State’s excellent theatre program around 1951. It was later named Mitchell Playhouse, in memory of C. B.Mitchell, longtime chair of the Speech Department and director of the Theatre program. The building was used as the playhouse until 1990, when fire safety concerns closed it for that purpose. In 1992 it reopened as the Valley Gymnastics Center.
The Gladys Valley Gymnastics Center is housed within the former Mitchell Playhouse. It has been the training space for OSU gymnastics since 1992. Funding for restoring and refurbishing the space came from the Wayne and Galdys Valley Foundation.
College Gymnasium, ca. 1915. The building now known as the Gladys Valley Gymnastics Center was built in 1898 and served a variety of functions through the early 1900s, including armory, gymnasium, and examination hall. It later served as Mitchell Playhouse before being converted back into a gymnasium in the early 1990s.
Armory gymnasium decorated for a dance. It shows the interior of what later became the Mitchell Playhouse and then the Gladys Valley Gymnastics Center. Photo taken between 1898 and 1910.