Close Hall is a former multi-purpose facility on the campus of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, United States, that was opened in 1890 and demolished between 1968 and 1970. In 1896, Close Hall hosted the first collegiate five-on-five basketball game.

Construction

Made of brick, construction of the building began in 1888 and completed in 1890 on land owned jointly by the university and Iowa City. The cost of construction was supplemented through a contribution of $10,000 by Mrs. Helen S. Close in order for the YM-

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

to be completed. The three-story building was the site of the first five-on-five college basketball game in 1896. The basement of the building housed the women's gymnasium as well as industrial chemistry labs. The first floor contained offices and recitation rooms, while the second floor housed literary societies as well as additional offices. The building became the first home of the

Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team is part of the University of Iowa athletics department. The Hawkeyes have had eight National Invitation Tournament appearances, won eight Big Ten regular-season conference championships and won the Big Ten ...

team in its early years. The team would move to the first Iowa Armory in 1905. Eventually the building would become the school of journalism for the

and would house the campus typesetting machines and printing presses. It would be from these presses that

The Daily Iowan ''The Daily Iowan'' is an independent, 6,500-circulation student newspaper serving Iowa City and the University of Iowa community. During the 2020–2021 academic year ''The Daily Iowan'' transitioned from printing daily to producing a print ...

, The Hawkeye, Frivol, Iowa Literary Magazine, The Transit and

The Journal of Business ''The Journal of Business'' was an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. It aimed to cover "a comprehensive range of areas, including business finance and investment, money and banking, marketing, security markets, business ...

would be printed. Close Hall would remain the home of the school of journalism as well as the university press room until the late 1950s.

Fire, rebuild and demolition

On January 1, 1940, Close Hall had a devastating fire that caused irreparable damage. The building was reconstructed as a one-story building and maintained as the school of journalism and university publishing. After the university publishing left, Close Hall became an underused, gaudy building on a valuable piece of property. The university officially closed the building in 1968 and over the course of the following two years demolished the structure. Today, the University of Iowa's Biology Building East stands on the Close Hall former site at Dubuque Street and Iowa Avenue.

References

Iowa Hawkeyes basketball venues Defunct college basketball venues in the United States 1890 establishments in Iowa Sports venues completed in 1890 1970 disestablishments in Iowa Buildings and structures demolished in 1970 Defunct sports venues in Iowa {{JohnsonCountyIA-struct-stub