A Day in the Life of the University of Pretoria. 24 February 1909

On this "Day in the life of the University of Pretoria" the Transvaal University College (TUC), the predecessor of the institution, moved from Kya Rosa to the State Gymnasium.

This gymnasium had spacious rooms on the top floor, suitable for the expanding college. The College ordered five laboratory tables for six chemistry students and equipment for the twenty physics students from the Department of Public Works in Cape Town. The building also had a geological collection that the TUC Department of Mining could use. On the northern side of the building was a common room for the lecturers and in the eastern corner, an office for the secretary as well as a small reading room and library, suitable for 40 to 50 students. This room was also used as a lecture hall. While the gymnasium had ample space, the location proved problematic as the ground floor also housed an “infant school”. Minutes noted that “Complaints of the Senate and Students are bitter and in the opinion of the Committee amply justified". They urged government to find a more suitable location for the College in Brooklyn.

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