(01-23-2014 05:09 PM)bcunn3128 Wrote: At some point it became "Memorial Field House"...I think...but I don't know when. Don't think that it was ever "named" after anyone, at any point, though...that was back in the days before everything had a sponsor.
As I recall my UT history, the Field House was the second major building (after University Hall) to be built on the then new Bancroft Campus and it was completed about 1931. With the opening of Centennial Hall in 1976, followed somewhat later by the opening of the "new" Rec Center, the Field House became much less utilized and became primarily a storage area with some limited low priority office and lab space with the court area still available if needed (for kids programs or intramural sports).
Starting maybe in the late 1980's, but certainly by the 1990's and into the 2000's, the Field House was frequently considered in the countless planning scenarios that are very much an integral part of the modern university system (because every new high level administrator has to put his or her personal stamp on any and every future plan---the predecessor's plans are never acceptable and have to be redone from scratch---I call it resume building for either their next job or their legacy---so with the high administrative turnover during that period, there was no shortage of time consuming planning activity always going on).
But I digress----although in the case of the Field House it was realized from the outset that it would be cheaper to tear it down and build a new building, it was also realized early on that the building's historic significance precluded its total demolition. At that point (sometime in late 1990s or early 2000s) it was officially renamed the "Memorial Field House". After several false planning starts, it was actually "renovated" which involved tearing down everything except the exterior walls and turning it into an academic building.
The new Memorial Field House opened around 2008 as an academic building and, to their credit, the architects did an outstanding job. It is quite a nice modern building on the inside while still appearing pretty much the same as always from the outside.
Disclaimer----this is based on my personal recollections which were not fact checked, and thus may contain some errors, particularly regarding time-frames.
EDIT--I hadn't read the second page of the thread when I posted so I missed eastisbest's post that gives 1997 as the year the building was renamed the "Memorial Field House"
