The main gym seated approximately 4,000 people and the basement level included an indoor pool, locker rooms, and bowling alley.

By the 1970s, structural and maintenance issues along with the passage and implementation of Title IX resulted in plans to build a replacement for Wills.

[2][3][4][5] The site chosen for the gym was a swampy area known as Blackbird Lake, located directly behind the original Administration Building, which had been completed in 1914.

Initially, it was simply called "the Gymnasium" before being named for David C. Wills, who was chairman of the Kent State Board of Trustees at the time.

Built as an annex to the Administration Building, the facility featured the main gymnasium, which had a balcony with seating for 650 people and an overall capacity of approximately 4,000.

The first men's basketball game at Wills Gym was a 37–24 loss to Mount Union College on January 5, 1926, to open the 1925–26 season.

The final men's basketball game at Wills was a 68–47 win over the Western Reserve Red Cats on March 7, 1950.

In addition to equal playing opportunities for female athletes, however, Title IX also required equal facilities for both men and women and the facilities at Wills were not only older and in deteriorating condition, but were considerably smaller than those at the Memorial Gym as the seating capacity at Wills Gym had been reduced to near 100 by the mid-1970s.

In addition to physical education and intercollegiate and intramural athletics, Wills Gym hosted class registration for many years, and was also used for dances and other large social events, such as those related to homecoming.

[20] The exterior facade of Wills Gym was brick with embedded columns and rectangular windows, similar to the adjacent Cartwright, Kent, and Merrill Halls, all of which were designed in the Neoclassical style, prominent in the early 20th century.

Three double doorways were located on the sideline opposite the balcony, which led to short staircases with access to the parking lot.

On the fourth side on the upper level was the balcony section, which had fixed chairback seating and smaller windows on all three exterior walls near the ceiling.

A corridor in the center of the level connected Wills Gym with the adjacent University Auditorium in what is now known as Cartwright Hall.

Originally, the lower level was a larger open space and also included a seating area adjacent to the pool and bowling alleys.

[21][22] The area formerly occupied by Wills Gymnasium is mostly covered by a parking lot behind Cartwright Hall, which houses the 800-seat University Auditorium.