A document that shows the interior of the Springfield College Memorial Field House. The building is divided into three sections: the Gymnasium area, the Arena area, and the Class and Game Room area. The Gymnasium area is 140 x 80 feet of permanent maple flooring and could accommodate 5 volleyball, or 9 badminton, or 3 basketball courts, or some combination of the three courts, and includes separate showers and locker rooms for 4 visiting teams. The Arena area comprised 230 feet of open earth surface for field events and had the ability up to accommodate 4000 spectators at public events and basketball games. The Class and Game Room area has spaces for offices and temporary classrooms which could also be converted to specialized game rooms for boxing, wrestling, fencing, and calisthenics. Springfield College qualified for a war time drill hall from the Federal Work Agency in 1946. The government disassembled and transported the building to Springfield College. The field house and was opened on February 21, 1948. On that day the first basketball game was held in the new arena, with Springfield College playing Providence College. William R. Chase, a member of the first group of men to play basketball in 1891, tossed the ceremonial first ball. The building was demolished in 1979 due to the arch construction problem, and a new Physical Education Complex replaced the Memorial Field House, and was formally dedicated on October 30, 1981.
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