The college's growing enrollment and the resulting increase in physical culture activities, as well as other demands for its space, eventually resulted in the call for a new gymnasium. Current students, staff and devoted alumnae appear to have been the source of energy for the fundraising campaign.

Once the funds were raised, the second gymnasium, designed by Lockwood de Forrest and Winsor Soule (architects of other buildings on campus), was quickly built on the site of the first one. The original swimming pool was kept (in a space that is now part of the Campus Bookstore), and new amenities included a finished flat roof that was used for dance and gymnastics practice. By the time the second gymnasium was in full use, the indoor activities had expanded to include callisthenic drills, gymnastic competitions, indoor baseball, precision marching, fencing, track workouts and meets, and dancing (including ballet).

The building was formally opened on February 22, 1909 with a mammoth gymnastics demonstration led by Miss Applebee. "Since the opening the gymnasium has been in constant use, and every day we realize more fully how great a need has been filled by the new gymnasium," wrote Cynthia Wesson '09 in The Lantern.