rces, that the building became assured. Three years
later Waterman Gymnasium was at last completed at a cost of $61,876.49
toward which sum private donors had contributed $49,524.34. The $6,000
which the students eventually raised through so many years of effort
were used for equipment. The new "gym" was 150 feet long by 90 feet
wide, with a running track in the balcony of 14 laps to the mile. These
accommodations proved ample for many years; but the recent growth of the
student body finally made an increase in space imperative, and in 1916
an extension of 48 feet was added at each end, making the main floor 248
feet long with a ten-lap running track.

[Illustration: WATERMAN GYMNASIUM FOR MEN]

The interest in all forms of outdoor athletics, which was developing
rapidly by 1890, made an athletic field no less necessary than a
gymnasium. The corner of the Campus where the Gymnasium now stands,
which, from the earliest days of baseball had been devoted to athletics,
was crowded and inconvenient, even for practice games; while the old
fair grounds in the southeastern part of the city were not under
University control, besides being ill-adapted to college games. The
streets and Campus were popular for impromptu games, although the arm of
the law was unduly active in the spring, and "the batting of balls" was
conspicuously forbidden on a sign which long decorated the south wall of
the Museum. The Regents recognized this need of a great playground,
however, and purchased what is now the south ten acres of Ferry Field in
1891, though it was not opened to the students until 1893. This went by
the name of "Regents' Field" until 1902, when the Hon. D.M. Ferry of
Detroit gave an additional twenty-one acres lying between the old field
and the University, and furnished funds for the present impressive
entrance gates and ticket offices, since which time it has been known by
the name of the donor. Subsequent purchases of neighboring property have
increased the total to nearly eighty acres. Though this is by no means
all in use at present, thirty-eight acres are graded, drained, and
enclosed on three sides by a high brick wall. Two great stands, one of
concrete, accommodate nearly 25,000 spectators at the "big games," while
an attractive club house at one end furnishes accommodations for the
players and members of visiting teams.

An effective student athletic organization was only less tardy in making
its appearance than the long-a