I love old gyms. There have been so many great gyms where I played, coached, or just attended games.
** Old Savanna HS gym with a balcony hanging over the court.
** Old Fulton HS gym where you dressed under the court, and the students sat on the stage behind your bench.
** Old UTHS gym on the hill where the court doubled as a stage for the auditorium.
** Chicago Maria gym that was a shoe box before shoe’s had boxes.
** Taylorville’s Dolph Stanley Gym that dripped with basketball history.
** Salem’s gym that made you dream of what games were like in there.
** Carthage’s gym was a modern day Hoosiers.
If you are like me, and love gyms of all kinds- big and small, old and new, unique and special- there is a book you MUST get. I just got my copy of ILLUSTRIOUS: The Best High School Basketball Gyms in Illinois by Vincent D. Johnson. It is not just good, it is GREAT.
It has over 260 pages of beautiful color pictures of over 100 gyms in Illinois.
This map shows all the gyms that Vincent Johnson is featuring.
With each gym there are 1 to 4 pages of pictures and stories about each. With Quincy, they describe Devil ceremony, their museum, and fan-o-meter.
There are features on unique gyms like Lindbloom Math and Science Academy with a 7 foot high balcony surrounding the floor.
Unique details are included like how Paris’ Eveland Gym made a come back for a season.
There are features on old-old time gyms like Williamsville with church like pews.
I highly recommend that you go to the website and order your copy of the book. It will give you hours of pleasure.
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