and architecture The growth of the University of North Carolina in the preceding years strove the efforts to build a new facility so that more of the student body would be able to view games. It was reported that if one desired to go to a game at the then home venue Bynum Gymnasium the season before, one would have to get there an hour early to guarantee a spot. The total cost for the venue was constructed for $54,482.25. In April 1923, North Carolina's Board of Trustees allocated $40,000 for a physical training building. Graduate Manager of Athletics Charles T. Woollen decided to build a temporary venue rather than another small facility, while planning to build another larger and central gymnasium later (what became Woollen Gymnasium). In early October 1923, Woollen announced that work was to begin on a new field for athletics between dormitories, as well as an indoor athletic field. The indoor facility would feature eight smaller basketball courts and the school's varsity team would play on one full length court, with stands being provided for fans. The building for indoor athletic field was purchased from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Blard-Knox Company. On October 26, The Tar Heel reported that construction began on the new indoor facility by raising steel erectors. This steel construction was to be finished within three weeks and only one more week was needed to place the floors, before the building was to be finished. The floor was maplewood and the rest of the structure was made of steel, with the roof and siding being galvanized sheet iron. The venue was 300 feet by 110 feet and included one toilet. In addition to basketball courts, it held a one-sixth mile track. Aside from hosting varsity basketball contests, intramural sports were planned to use the facility. It was the first building on campus to be strictly for an athletic purpose. Before being built, it was hoped to allow roughly 4,000 spectators in the building when using three of the courts to host tournaments. However, the portable bleachers that were used only allowed roughly 2,500 fans. As a whole, it was thought to be visually unappealing, and one Daily Tar Heel article written after its removal, stated that most people considered the structure to be an "eyesore." The structure was never given a formal name aside from Indoor Athletic Center or the Indoor Athletic Court, but the