Duke Wells Center

In April of 1970, the Commission on Coordination of Higher Educational Finance approved the construction of a Physical Education Building on what was then the newly developing “North Campus”. On July 10, 1970, the Board awarded the contract for $1,562,862 to The Baldwin Company of Little Rock, and by September, they had already started the work.

Located just southeast of Haygood Stadium and the Athletic Dressing Facility, the John Duke Wells Physical Education Building was the first major structure completed on the North Campus in the 1970s. It was ready for use for the first summer session, 1972.

Of contemporary functional design, the Wells Building is a two story red brick accented with gray columns spaced at regular intervals across each wall. It contains 84,224 square feet . On the first level, the building houses a multi-purpose gymnasium for basketball games, with seats for 3,400. The gymnasium is also convertible to two courts for intramural basketball, eight for badminton, and four for volleyball for classroom, intramural, and recreational use. The main level includes an exercise and conditioning room as well as an auxiliary gymnasium for dance and gymnastic classes and programs.

In addition, the first level features an eight-lane swimming pool constructed to Olympic standards and flanked with seats for 500 spectators. The first floor also includes locker rooms and provided office space for the faculty and staff. In a partially enclosed patio section, the ground floor had space for paddle-ball courts, shuffleboard, and one-wall handball for class and recreational use. Ample white corridors with fluorescent lighting furnished easy access to all facilities on both floors. Built-in display cases exhibiting trophies, plaques, and photographs of championship teams lined appropriate walls of the corridors.

On the second level, the building included five traditional classrooms with special equipment for such Physical Education courses as physiology, anatomy, and kinesiology. It also contained more faculty and staff offices and a combat room for wrestling and judo instruction.

While the development of the North Campus proceeded, President Garrison remarked, “These facilities combined with a staff under the direction of Dr. Joe Willis, and their proximity to one another provide the potential for one of the finest total physical education, health, and recreation programs in the State” .

At the formal dedication of the Wells Physical Education Building on October 14, 1972, the College honored John Duke Wells for his 31 years of service to the youth of Arkansas and to the athletic program of the institution. Over 1,500 attended the ceremonies. With Dr. Martin Garrison presiding, Ray Thornton, Attorney General of Arkansas, gave the dedicatory address; Judge James Pilkinton, representing the Board of Trustees, paid tribute to Duke Wells; and Dr. Joe Don Willis, Chairman of the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department, outlined the merits of the total North Campus complex.

During the afternoon at halftime of the game between the Reddies and the Samford University Bulldogs of Birmingham, Alabama, the College officially retired Jersey No. 30 in recognition of the athletic feats of Duke Wells as a Reddie and for his service to the College as a coach and athletic director. President Garrison and Robert B. “Sleepy” Thomasson, Wells' coach at Gurdon High School, made the presentation. Miss Amy Jean Greene, Associate Professor Emeritus of Education, and H. Grady Smith, Trustee and retired Business Manager, then presented Wells with a new El Camino automobile and an album of appreciation from friends and former Reddies. All in all, the College celebrated a good day, with only one exception. The Samford Bulldogs won 27-21, though the Reddies had led 21-7 at the half.

The Duke Wells center has been renovated many times over its 50 year history. Recent changes included new locker room facilities, a fitness room, restroom facilities, ticket offices and concession stands, and a new scoreboard for the pool.