The interior of the Memorial Field House during dismantlement at the Sampson Naval Training Facility
Description:
This is a photograph of the interior of the Memorial Field House during its deconstruction at the Sampson Naval Training Facility at Sampson, New York, on June 5, 1947. The drill hall in the photograph has just started to be disassembled, only a small portion of the middle of the roof has been removed. Inside the drill hall, the finished floors have been removed, there are planks stacked on the right side, and there is some construction waste scattered on the ground. The drill hall was transported to Springfield College later and became the Memorial Field House. The field house was originally used as a basic training facility by the US Navy. In 1946 Springfield College qualified for the drill hall through Public Law 697, a law that distributed war time surplus for civilian use, and the government disassembled and transported the building to Springfield College. The field house 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 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. The Arena area comprises 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. The building was demolished in 1979 due to the fact that the wood arch could not meet minimum building code requirements. A new Physical Education Complex replaced the Memorial Field House, and was formally dedicated on October 30, 1981.
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