Spaces evolve over time, adapting to new needs and purposes. On Central Michigan University’s campus, Finch Fieldhouse has been the home of many things over the past 75 years, hosting everything from offices and intercollegiate athletics, to notable concerts, class registration, and a general hub for campus activities.
To celebrate the historic longevity of this campus icon, CMU is hosting the
Finch Fieldhouse 75th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, March 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The free, public will feature historical exhibits, interactive displays, souvenirs, a photo booth, giveaways, and heavy hors d-oeuvres. While registration is not required, attendees can sign up in advance
online.
Tim Otteman, chair of the
Department of Recreation, Parks & Leisure Services Administration and professor, has been with CMU for 25 years. Throughout his time on campus, he’s seen many iterations of the Finch Fieldhouse.
Otteman shares nostalgic history of the building and its uses over the past seven decades.
“The building was built in 1950 primarily as a new building for intercollegiate athletics. It was the home for basketball, wrestling, track and field, and volleyball,” he says. “It was the biggest building on campus at the time, and cost $1.25 million to build.”
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Courtesy Central Michigan UniversityA Michigan high school basketball tournament (Class A Quarterfinals) game in 1957.
Located at the (then) center of campus, Otteman shares Finch Fieldhouse served as a hub for activity.
Although the footprint has not changed much since the fifties, Otteman says what happens in the building has changed over time.
The Fieldhouse regularly hosts notable concerts, annual holiday celebrations, community outreach events, circus events, civil rights movement events, Pow Wow events, Greek life activities, Special Olympics, and more.
“The building is now home to my department, the home of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), and a multi-purpose space for the campus and the surrounding community,” he says. “We have a climbing wall, a mutli-sensory room, and the purposes now are academic and extracurricular, rather than focused on sports when the building was first built.”
Much like many students, staff, faculty, and alumni, Otteman has many fond memories that took place in the building. In preparing for the celebration, digging through the archives revealed many unique events and happenings which took place in the fieldhouse.
“As we started to uncover some of the really cool things that happened in this space, we found that a 19-year-old Stevie Wonder played a concert here, and Louis Armstrong played a concert here,” he says.
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Courtesy Central Michigan UniversityStevie Wonder concert at Finch Fieldhouse when he was 19 years old.
At the March 22 celebration, a lifesize timeline will showcase about 125 photos from the archives, helping transport visitors back in time from 1950 all the way to present-day.
The public is also invited to traverse an
interpretive trail compiled by one of Jordan Bruursema’s Recreation, Parks & Leisure classes.
“It was a really cool class project where they met with the Clarke Historical Library to find photos, met with library staff, put their voices to photos, and turned into a video slideshow timeline,” Otteman says. “At the end of the project, we then took it the next step further and have identified seven different locations within the building, a photo from the ‘50s or ‘60s, and a current photo from the 2000s. The lucite plaques have a QR code at the bottom, which brings up a 90-second video that tells the history of Finch from the spot that you’re standing in.”
Bruursema is an Outdoor Recreation faculty member, and has been at CMU for 15 years. For his RPL 552 Environmental Interpretation class, part of the curriculum focuses on both natural-type interpretation like in national parks, but also historical interpretation of natural areas.
Typically, students create an interpretive trail including different stops in the natural world, whether at local or national parks.
“I, in turn thought, ‘why don’t we make a virtual interpretive trail of the historical building we’re housed in right here in Finch Fieldhouse,’” he says. “It just so happened that I had this idea and it lined up perfectly with the 75th anniversary of Finch this year.”
“We had last spring’s class which created all of these different stops in Finch Fieldhouse, showcasing historic and modern-day photos,” Bruusema continues. “Each group of students was tasked with finding all of the historical documents, pictures, and information about those different parts. We utilized the Clarke Historical Library to help us dig through the archives.”
Bruursema says the biggest goal behind the project was to give students a real-life opportunity to create something that is celebrating history, and learning all of the processes behind-the-scenes.
“Students were thrilled to see the historical significance of this building,” he says. “We walk through here everyday, go to class, and sit down, but this gave the students an opportunity to realize all of the amazing things that have happened here like concerts by Chicago or Lynyrd Skynyrd who were in these halls playing. There were prominent coaches throughout history who used to sit in my office, where I sit now as a faculty member.”
Students were also proud to leave their mark with this project, which gets to live on into the future. Hearing about the civil rights movements and the Pow Wow events also inspired Bruusrema, too, as the teacher got to learn more about the chapters of this building that took place prior to his own personal connection to the space.
Bryan Whitledge is the public services librarian and has been at the
Clarke Historical Library since 2011. Although he did not attend CMU, Whitledge is a go-to source for documents on Michigan history and the archives of the institution.
“My role as public services librarian is helping people make use of the historical documents we have, connecting them with the information they need, and helping people track down information that might be a little tricky,” Whitledge says.
Clarke Historical Library has over 6,000 square feet of records, plus over 100,000 volumes of books and materials, according to Whitledge.
Whether it’s retro pamphlets, antique maps, or a modern-day children’s book, Whitledge enjoys connecting people with the things they’re interested in, anyone from K-12 students to senior citizens reliving fond memories.
“I love being able to be their agent in their research, tracking down information, and I really like the detective hunt,” he says.
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Courtesy Central Michigan UniversityAn aerial view of Finch Fieldhouse in 1953 showing the old Alumni Field and outdoor track; the field behind it is the current location of the College of Health Professions and the Medical School.
In regards to this Finch Fieldhouse research project, Whitledge helped students on their class project last year, which organically grew to be included as a part of the 75th anniversary celebration.
Regardless of the activity hosted at Finch Fieldhouse, the building site is a special place on campus that means many things to many people, says Whitledge.
“It’s one of the few places on campus that pretty much every student who attended CMU from the fifties to today—it’s one of the few buildings that everyone goes into. Through the 1980s, it was used to register for classes. Recently, it was also set up as a vaccine clinic in 2021 in Finch Fieldhouse, where the community mobilized the CMU community, and set it up for mass mobilization of COVID-19 vaccines. It really holds a special place in the heart of a lot of people at CMU,” he says.
Although the building has been around for 75 years, the building remains full of life, purpose and cared-for architecture. Revisiting that history has been meaningful for all involved, inspiring past, present and future generations.
Otteman says the celebration and projects like this couldn’t be possible without the Clarke Historical Library, which has been integral in the process.
“Bryan and the staff at Clarke Historical Library is a treasure trove of resources that is quite honestly probably underutilized by faculty and staff,” he says. “I don’t think we all realize how much cool stuff they have.”
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Courtesy Central Michigan University
Otteman hopes the anniversary celebration can act as a type of springtime homecoming, inviting alumni from all different eras and generations to meet and mingle with each other.
“I also hope it is very much an event that is a walking tour of this old museum that is Finch Fieldhouse,” he says. “I think it’s just going to be a cool place for those who love the building, or love programs within the building, and can have fond memories and meet other people with those shared experiences.”