File:Looking E up W Grant St at VCB Bldg and Gaines Hall - Montana State University - Bozeman, Montana - 2013-07-09.jpg

English: Looking east up West Grant Street at the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. The large grey rectangular structure lower-center-left is the rear of the Visual Communications Building, and is the VCB's Black Box Theater. The warm three-story brown structure beyond it with awnings is Gaines Hall. The domed structure to the right is Romney Gym.

The Visual Communications Building was built in 1983. It houses the School of Film and Photography, as well as the offices of Montana PBS and Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. In 2007, the $4.2 million Black Box Theatre was added to the building's south side. The cubical, 12,700 square-foot, 250-seat theater easily adapts to either theater-in-the-round or traditional seating.

Gaines Hall was built between 1957 and 1961. It is named for Paschal Gaines, chair of the Department of Chemistry from 1946 to 1957. Four times, he was named acting president of MSU. A $28.5 million renovation began in 2008, and finished in 2010 -- $4 million over budget. The 85,500 square-foot building now has a 300-seat lecture hall, is LEED Silver certified, and has state-of-the-art laboratories for biochemistry, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, geochemistry, modern languages, and physics. Housed in Gaines Hall is the Department of Modern Languages & Literature and the University College. University College, formed in 2008, houses three undergraduate interdisciplinary bachelor's degree programs (the Bachelor of Liberal Studies, the Bachelor of Arts in American Studies, and the Bachelor of Arts in Directed Interdisciplinary Studies), the Undergraduate Scholars Program (which pairs students and faculty in joint research programs), the University Honors Program (which provides interdisciplinary honors courses and seminars for outstanding students), and the University Studies Program (which allows undecided students the opportunity to explore disciplines of interest before declaring a major). It also administers the Leadership Fellows Certificate Program and the McNair Scholars Program.

Romney Gym was built in 1922 and in 1973 was named for George Ott Romney -- co-head coach of the MSU football and men's basketball teams from 1922 to 1928. During Romney's time as co-head football coach, his teams complied a 28-20-1 record, although this included the 1924 season in which his team went undefeated until the final game of the year. As co-head basketball coach, his teams compiled a 144-31 record and invented fast break basketball. After Romney left, coach Schubert Dyche coached the "Golden Bobcats" team of 1928, which went 36-2 and won the national championship.

Romney Gym contained a swimming pool on the first floor, squash courts on the second, basketball court on the third, and running track and gym on the fourth. Over the years, many new interior walls were created within the structrure to create smaller, more useable classroom space. The pool was closed in 1973 after the Hosaeus Fitness Center opened.

As fo 2011-2012, Romney Gym housed several offices of the Department of Health and Human Development, including Foods & Nutrition, the Movement Science Lab, Heath Enhancement, and Extension Nutrition. It also housed the MSU employee wellness office, studios for the School of Architecture, and the MSU ROTC program. But most of the building was closed off, or served as storage space.

Montana State University proposed a $20 million renovation of Romney Gym in 2010, and declared the structure's renovations one of its top four priorities during the 2013 state legislature. But the state legislature refused to fund the project (the only university project it did not budget for). Romney Gym currently has sagging floors; electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems which are not up to code; lacks handicap accessibility; and is not up to current earthquake codes. Many of the interior walls added over the years are now useless and the space created too small, and a quarter of the structure cannot be used due to safety concerns.