Royal Brougham
In hopes of bringing together a community and providing more opportunities to students and the public, Seattle Pacific University decided to build a gymnasium. On January 7, 1947, the Executive Committee of the Board agreed with President Hoyt Watson that a gymnasium must be the next building constructed. The new athletic building would be named Royal Brougham and it would benefit students and the community with the opportunity to learn and practice physical fitness and spiritual growth. The Royal Brougham Pavilion was built to embody good Christian character and morals while providing education and programs for students to grow, learn and appreciate.
The new athletic facility was built to embody unity and Christian Leadership. It opened a door to new possibilities such as intercollegiate sports. The students would now be able to participate in sports and become part of a team that fits their skill or passion. They would not have to worry about being divided into teams like they normally would in intramural sports. The entire student-athlete body was unified.
There were a lot of setbacks, criticism, and skepticism about building Royal Brougham, but that did not stop Seattle Pacific University and President Watson from cultivating a profitable structure. Many people were excited about the new gymnasium, and others were more hesitant and skeptical about it. Those who were skeptical thought that the Christian Faith-based college would be compromising Christian Faith with a gymnasium with the sole purpose of providing physical fitness opportunities for the students. People thought that the idea of building an athletic facility was a waste of time and money. However, the college officials and Board members argued that the gym was not being built just for the students to play sports, but it was going to be built for a number of other positive reasons.
Furthermore, both students attending SPU and “city young people” (Seattle Pacific University, 93) would be able to gain access to the new gymnasium. The college believed in cultivating and changing the world by being interactive with the community. That is why they decided to open up the new gymnasium to not just the students and teachers, but to everyone. There were some people that were against this decision. Some thought that by giving anyone access to the gym would lower the standards of conduct in the facility. The school responded positively to the criticism by saying that while there still might be some risks to letting other people in the community use the athletic facility, the college would continue to impact the lives of the students, because the school believes in “Cultivating the community and changing the world.” The school’s philanthropic view of cultivating the world proves that they are not just all about making a difference in the lives of the students but also the lives of the public.
In addition, the gym would contain 40 percent of SPU’s lecture halls, and offices. The students would come here to also learn and not just play. The college officials decided that it was a good idea that the sponsors of the gymnasium should be the ones to seek out people for employment of leaders who are adequately trained for work in the physical fitness programs. The sponsors consisted of park officials, public school administrators, and camp directors. These highly eligible employees would be educated teachers and coaches to minister and educate the students in the physical fitness programs as well as regular curriculum. As soon as there were enough employees, the School of Recreational Leadership was created. The main focus of the program was that the while well trained, the teachers, coaches, physical trainers, etc.… would be able to guide the youth in their spiritual growth as well as their athleticism. The organization was created to train all the employees in a variety of things such as recreational leadership, physiology, first aid, anatomy, bible study youth guidance and so much more. These are all some of the fields that the students at SPU will want to pursue in the future, and these trained teachers and coaches would help them pursue their dreams someday.
Ultimately, the new athletic building was originally going to be called the Seattle Pacific University Pavilion but was later changed to the Royal Brougham Pavilion. The name came from a person: Royal Brougham. He was one of the longest working employees of a U.S. newspaper at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in Seattle, Washington. The devout Christian and philanthropist primarily wrote about sports and has been doing it for 68 years and to commemorate his legacy, a street, and a building has been named after him, in Seattle. The prestigious sports writer, Royal Brougham was interested in and intrigued in the idea of the building of SPU’s new athletic facility. He wrote to the school, and starts out by saying, “Naturally, I am interested in the plans of Seattle Pacific University College for the new athletic pavilion which is so badly needed Seattle.” (Brougham) He “sincerely believes in the ideals that will govern the school of Recreational Leadership” (Investment in Royal Brougham). Brougham was excited about the production of the new building and Seattle Pacific University was excited and happy that he shared all the same ideals and morals that the school wanted the building to embody. The college took it upon themselves and decided to name the new gymnasium “The Royal Brougham Pavilion” because this man embodied all the right characteristics of the new structure.
Incidentally, the plans and ideas were all set in place for the new building, but the location for it had not yet been secured. SPU struggled to find a satisfactory location for the new gymnasium. The college initially had an idea of building the new structure on 3rd West Ave, right across the street from “Rodgers Park”, but the city, unfortunately, would not give SPU the permit to build on this location. It was back to the drawing board for SPU. They finally found a new location that was better in proximity. The new and an even better location was near to the college campus. The school decided to build the pavilion at 3rd Ave West Nickerson Street, which was right across the street from the school’s main entrance. The close proximity of the gym would be beneficial to the students playing sports because they would only have to walk across the street to go to practice after class.
Overall, the Royal Brougham Pavilion became a great place for students and the community to practice their skills and learn new ones. There are many students that play on the college sports teams and practice here on a daily basis. I also come to the gym and practice my skills and learn to become better at what I am passionate about. I am glad that Seattle Pacific University decided to build this beautiful structure, long ago, because it really is a great place to grow physically and spiritually.
