History of Sayles-Hill
Carleton College’s Sayles-Hill, established in 1910, has long been a central hub for student life, campus traditions, and community engagement. On January 26, 1910, Sayles-Hill Gymnasium officially opened after Fred B. Hill and his wife, Deborah Sayles Hill, donated $35,000 toward the construction of a new men’s gymnasium. The idea for the building reportedly emerged during a Willis Chapel service in 1909, when the couple made their generous pledge to improve Carleton’s athletic facilities. The building was designed by Minneapolis architect Jerome Paul Jackson and constructed by William O’Neil & Son in the American Renaissance architectural style. Built from sand-mould brick with Bedford stone trimmings, the structure immediately stood out on campus as both a functional athletic facility and an architectural landmark.
Sayles-Hill is one of the most popular places on Carleton’s campus. When thinking about a place all group members spend time at, Sayles-Hill popped into mind. Carleton has such a rich history with its archives and newspapers; finding data was easy. Our group used several sources, including Carleton College Voice, Carleton College Archives, Campus History Sites, and others. We were able to really capture Sayles-Hill through images and alumni voices. Next, we wanted to capture present-day Sayles. Polycam was the app that popped up in mind. Owen and Briggs woke up really early one morning to do an in-person scan of Sayles, capturing it at its emptiest with plenty of natural light. This allows viewers to feel and interact with Sayles through a scan and see what has changed over time. The next steps included using SketchFab. This site allowed us to create an even more interactive view of Sayles with overlapping old images to present-day images that we took. Explore our model here!
Sayles-Hill Gym
From 1910 until 1964, Sayles-Hill served primarily as Carleton’s athletic center. Inside was an impressive gymnasium complex that included a basketball court, running track, swimming pool, locker rooms, and additional training spaces. The main gym floor measured 60 by 125 feet, with an elevated running track circling above it. At the time of its construction, the gymnasium was notable for being one of the first facilities in Minnesota specifically designed for basketball, reflecting the rapid growth of the sport in the early twentieth century. However, athletics were only part of Sayles-Hill’s story. Because the building was one of the largest gathering spaces on campus, it quickly became a site for many other student activities and community events. Throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, Sayles-Hill functioned as a kind of informal campus center. Students registered for classes there, attended dances, and gathered for Winter Festival celebrations. The building was also regularly used by the broader Northfield community. One particularly notable event occurred in 1913, when the Minnesota State Dairymen’s Association hosted a banquet in the gymnasium. Events like this highlighted the scale of the facility and its importance beyond the college itself. Sayles-Hill also played an important role in the development of basketball in Minnesota, hosting the state’s first high school basketball championship tournaments until 1923. In addition to the basketball court, the building included a large indoor swimming pool in the basement measuring roughly 25 by 60 feet, further expanding the range of activities the space could support.
The In-Between Era of Sayles-Hill
By the 1960s, however, Carleton’s athletic needs had outgrown the building. In 1964, the college opened a new Men’s Gymnasium, now known as West Gym. With the construction of this larger and more modern facility, many of the athletic programs that once filled Sayles-Hill moved across campus. Swimming, basketball, diving, and volleyball all relocated to the new complex. Without these activities, Sayles-Hill suddenly found itself without a clear purpose. For several years after the move, the building fell into partial disuse. Yet rather than disappearing from campus life entirely, the space developed an unexpected second life. Students began using the empty areas for creative expression, informal performances, and gatherings. The drained swimming pool in particular became an iconic site for student graffiti and artwork. What had once been a formal athletic facility was gradually transforming into something much more student-driven and experimental. Recognizing both the building’s historical importance and its potential as a social space, Carleton began exploring renovation plans in the late 1960s. At the time, many students strongly supported turning the structure into a campus center and dining facility. Their input played a major role in shaping the redesign. Rather than demolishing the building, the college chose to preserve its exterior while completely reimagining the interior to serve new purposes.
Transformation of Sayles-Hill
With these plans in place, Sayles-Hill underwent extensive renovations throughout the 1970s. When the building reopened in 1979, it had been transformed into what students recognize today as Sayles-Hill Campus Center. The former gymnasium floor became a gathering space for dining and student activities, while other rooms were converted into meeting areas, offices, and performance spaces. Over time, Sayles-Hill came to house several of the most important student institutions on campus, including the student-run café, the Cave music venue, and the offices of student government and campus organizations. Today, Sayles-Hill continues to serve as one of the most active and recognizable spaces at Carleton. Although its role has changed dramatically over the past century, the building has remained at the center of campus life. What began as an early twentieth-century athletic facility has evolved into a place for conversation, music, meals, and student expression. The many transformations of Sayles-Hill reflect broader changes in student culture at Carleton, demonstrating how a single building can adapt to meet the needs of generations of students while still preserving its historical legacy.
Data & Sources
Our project’s historical narrative was built by looking at a wide variety of archival data. We heavily utilized the Carleton College Archives to get to see the transformation of Sayles-Hill through photographs, which helped us understand the timeline of when things happened. We specifically looked at the Carleton College Voice article, “The Many Lives of Sayles-Hill”, to document the building’s transformation, especially the in-between period where the school wasn’t too sure what to do with Sayles.
Processes
Our group’s methodology combined traditional historical research with modern spatial data collection. To capture the current architecture of Sayles, we performed an in-person scan of Sayles using the Polycam app. Then, using that 3D scan, we implemented it into Sketchfab, where we added the historical information and photos to compare what Sayles looked like compared to how it looks now.
Presentation Choices
We chose WordPress as our hosting platform for its ability to integrate long narratives with interactive media. The choice of an interactive 3D model was to help the readers understand the old layout of Sayles compared to the layout we all know today.
Bibliography
“The Many Lives of Sayles-Hill”
Imagined Futures, Forgotten Pasts – A History of Carleton’s Campus