Parmer Fieldhouse

Nashville's Parmer Fieldhouse is nestled into a corner between Vanderbilt Stadium and Memorial Gymnasium. The building is a modest stone structure that was built in 1922 in conjunction with Vanderbilt Stadium. The building is named after horse farmer and railroad executive Walter O. Parmer. Parmer owned horse farms in Sumner County, Tennessee and later leased four hundred acres of the Belle Meade Plantation. He and his wife wanted to purchase the entire plantation, including the house, but were not successful. Parmer later became the executive director of the North Carolina and St. Louis railroad. Parmer believed in giving back to his community, and in 1922 when Vanderbilt University constructed a new football stadium, Parmer gave the money for a locker room. The locker room was constructed adjacent to the new state of the art football stadium. It was used for this purpose for the next fifty years. During its prime the Parmer Fieldhouse was used as the locker room for Vanderbilt's football, baseball and track teams, and was the headquarters for Vanderbilt's training staff. Perhaps the Parmer Fieldhouse is best known for its role in the 1932 Vanderbilt-Tennesssee football game. The story goes that the stadium was sold out, and fans of both teams were forced to seek out other places to watch the game. Fans began climbing on top of the Parmer Fieldhouse. The Tennessean reported that the roof of the Parmer Fieldhouse was "black with humanity." The fans then proceeded to jump off the roof of the building and run onto the field. The officials were forced to stop the game and the contest ended in a 0-0 tie. In 1970 the McGugin center was constructed and all athletic offices were moved there. The Parmer Fieldhouse fell into a dilapidated state. When asked about the building, Parmer's nephew said that the building was beyond repair and should be razed. He suggested putting up a monument to his great uncle and putting a plaque that said "this was the site of the former Walter O. Parmer Field House." When Vanderbilt Stadium was renovated in 1981, athletics director Roy Kramer made sure the architects and contractors kept the building intact. In 1998 John Bibb of The Tennessean suggested converting the building into a Vanderbilt Sports Hall of Fame. This idea was never carried out, and the Parmer Fieldhouse is currently being used by the Vanderbilt concession staff, to prepare and store concessions before the Commodores' football, basketball, and baseball games. The Parmer Fieldhouse is a piece of Nashville history that has been all but forgotten.

 The Parmer Fieldhouse shortly after its 1922 construction.

For more on the Parmer Fieldhouse check out the following link: https://vucommodores.com/news/2011/12/7/vanderbilt_s_historic_parmer_field_house.aspx

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