tm3308
Well-Known Member
On Tuesday, my story on the Field House will run in The Daily Iowan. It took me just over eight months to talk to everyone and do all the research I needed to do. It's running in the paper at right around 72 inches. A normal full story is 15-18 inches (thank God I'm getting paid extra for this one lol). There are portions that will run only online to conserve space in print, so the full story is about 90 inches.
Anyway, I figured I'd get the word out early for people to keep an eye out for it on Tuesday either in the paper (If you're in IC) or online. Here's a small teaser (this may not appear exactly as it will be in print; the copy editors still have to look at it first):
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The Field House: A building with a life of its own
By Tork Mason
tork-mason@uiowa.edu
The University of Iowa’s Field House is like an aging star athlete.
Situated just east of Kinnick Stadium, the Field House isn’t what it once was. It has left fans and athletes with only memories of past greatness.
The Field House was considered state-of-the art when it opened in 1927. There was “no finer or larger building of its kind … in the world,†according to the dedication program published on Jan. 13, 1927. It housed what was believed to be the world’s largest competition pool at the time.
But after eight decades of housing university athletics, the Field House’s days are numbered. Once Phase II of the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center is completed — the plan is currently in the design phase, but will include the addition of another swimming pool and more basketball courts — the Field House will bid its final farewell. It will be torn down to make way for further expansion of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, said Harry Ostrander, the director of Recreational Services.
Many have fond memories of the Field House, but not everyone has shared in the nostalgia.
The building’s inadequacies were well documented. Steel pillars once obstructed the views of many fans attending basketball or wrestling events. The roof leaked. The temperature was hard to control.
The years have left few features recognizable. The arched windows in the Field House pool are still there, but the maligned steel pillars are barely visible from behind newer drywall on the Main Deck. A part of the arched roof from the armory remains, and a few pictures on the east wall of the Main Deck show what things used to look like.
But the last, most visible remnant of the “old barn†hangs from the west rafters: the Flying Herky logo that once descended over the pull-out bleachers.
As the Field House’s time dwindles, one must ask: what kind of self-eulogy could its crumbling walls deliver?
Anyway, I figured I'd get the word out early for people to keep an eye out for it on Tuesday either in the paper (If you're in IC) or online. Here's a small teaser (this may not appear exactly as it will be in print; the copy editors still have to look at it first):
______________
The Field House: A building with a life of its own
By Tork Mason
tork-mason@uiowa.edu
The University of Iowa’s Field House is like an aging star athlete.
Situated just east of Kinnick Stadium, the Field House isn’t what it once was. It has left fans and athletes with only memories of past greatness.
The Field House was considered state-of-the art when it opened in 1927. There was “no finer or larger building of its kind … in the world,†according to the dedication program published on Jan. 13, 1927. It housed what was believed to be the world’s largest competition pool at the time.
But after eight decades of housing university athletics, the Field House’s days are numbered. Once Phase II of the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center is completed — the plan is currently in the design phase, but will include the addition of another swimming pool and more basketball courts — the Field House will bid its final farewell. It will be torn down to make way for further expansion of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, said Harry Ostrander, the director of Recreational Services.
Many have fond memories of the Field House, but not everyone has shared in the nostalgia.
The building’s inadequacies were well documented. Steel pillars once obstructed the views of many fans attending basketball or wrestling events. The roof leaked. The temperature was hard to control.
The years have left few features recognizable. The arched windows in the Field House pool are still there, but the maligned steel pillars are barely visible from behind newer drywall on the Main Deck. A part of the arched roof from the armory remains, and a few pictures on the east wall of the Main Deck show what things used to look like.
But the last, most visible remnant of the “old barn†hangs from the west rafters: the Flying Herky logo that once descended over the pull-out bleachers.
As the Field House’s time dwindles, one must ask: what kind of self-eulogy could its crumbling walls deliver?
