DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Out on the campus of Amarillo College, there sits a building that has more going on than most folks notice when they walk through the front door. They call it Russell Hall now, but it didn't start out that way.
It started out as Badger Gymnasium — named for the school's athletic teams — and it was one of only two permanent structures built first for Amarillo College. The administration building and this gymnasium, that was it. The very bones of the place.
Now, somewhere along the way, the name changed. The facility was renamed to honor Dr. Natalie Russell, who fostered women's physical education at the college.
That's a legacy worth puttin' your name on a building for. The man who drew it all up was architect Guy Carlander, and he delivered something worth looking at. The building went up between 1937 and 1939, funded through the Public Works Administration.
Steel and brick, built to last. Inside, there's a two-story central space wrapped by a one-story outer wing — a design that gives the whole thing a kind of quiet grandeur. And outside, well, that's where Guy Carlander let the Art Deco do its talking.
Chevrons, flutes, parallel bands — all of it accenting the brick and cast stone exterior with the kind of geometric precision that was very much having a moment in those years. But here's the detail that sticks with you. Right above the entry doors, carved in large rounded block letters, are two words: honor and valor.
Not the name of a donor. Not a date. Just those two words, looking down at everyone who comes and goes.
In a gymnasium, on a college campus, built during hard times with public money — somebody thought those were exactly the right words to put over the door. Hard to argue with that.
What the marker says
The administration building and the gymnasium were the first two permanent structures built for Amarillo College. Originally known as Badger Gymnasium for the school's athletic teams, this facility was renamed to honor Dr. Natalie Russell, who fostered women's physical education at the college. Architect Guy Carlander designed the building, erected in 1937-39 with Public Works Administration funding. The steel and brick gymnasium includes a two-story central space surrounded by a one-story outer wing. Geometric Art Deco style elements such as chevrons, flutes and parallel bands accent the brick and cast stone exterior. Above the entry doors, the words "honor" and "valor" are inscribed in large rounded block letters.Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-2008