The Old Field House
This unassuming building, now slated for demolition, is a microcosm of Southwestern’s history.
This building located at 1005 Maple Street on the west side of the Southwestern University campus is officially known as the “Old Field House.'' It is an unassuming and plain-looking building that many students pass by every day. Students may not know that the structure is one of the oldest on campus with many different stories contained within its walls.
Despite existing for over 90 years, there has never been much importance placed on the building itself. It seems that it has always lived in the background of collective consciousness. It has always been a utilitarian building that has primarily functioned as a space of necessity; Southwestern administrators have used it as a location to place organizations, offices, and departments when there is no room elsewhere on campus, for example, when another building is being remodeled. The structure’s many uses encapsulate the memory of the physical and social changes the campus has seen throughout the years.
I have confirmed with Megan Firestone, Head of Special Collections and Archives at Southwestern, that the structure has existed on campus since at least the early 1930s. The building was first constructed for use as a private residence. Its original address was 409 E. 10th Street. This address no longer exists, but 10th Street used to extend east-west right through what is now the center of campus. In the mid-20th century, 10th Street was decommissioned to allow for the construction of new buildings as part of the first major Campus Plan that developed the first comprehensive design for the campus and created a horseshoe drive on campus.
We know this because in the executive committee minutes from 1939-1940, it was stated that the house was the residence of Southwestern’s business manager Isaac Joel McCook who served this role for 39 years starting in 1929. Looking at census data Megan and I were able to match the year the McCook family resided in the home to this original address. The house was originally located on the site of the current F.W. Olin building.
In 1939, the executive committee began discussing Southwestern’s desperate need for an athletic gymnasium. For years, there was a small gym built into the first floor of the Main (or Administration) Building (now named the Cullen Building). They quickly took action to make this possible by collecting donations. A large grant was given to Southwestern by a man named Jim West for the construction of the gym. This is where the West Gymnasium earned its namesake. For the West Gymnasium to be constructed, the McCook residence had to be either relocated or demolished. I find it interesting that the executive committee decided to relocate the home rather than demolish it because the home was a modest, simple home that was in no way special or unique.
To emphasize the multifaceted nature of the Field House, I will provide a chronological overview of the many functions it has served since it was relocated to its current site. In 1940, the McCook residence was converted into an athletic field house for the Snyder field which exists to this day across Maple Street from the Field House. Snyder Field House was used specifically by football and track athletes. During World War II, in 1943, a “commando obstacle course for boys” went into effect and was mandatory for all male students not exempt from military training. The last stage of the obstacle course involved crawling under the field house. In 1955 it was used as a Navy training facility; it trained men in “electronics, including the radio and radar.”
These early uses revolved around men’s athletics and naval/military training. However, beginning in the 1960s, the building was used for various academic, student service, and administrative purposes. In 1965, the house was given a “dramatic facelift” and underwent extensive renovations which included new offices. The building was occupied by Charles B. Patrick who coordinated the “Southwestern Advancement Fund.” By 1967, the space was no longer used for this purpose and professors were given offices in the building. In 1971, there was a brief return to an athletic focus, when intramural ping-pong and billiard tournaments were held inside.
By 1976, after a major renovation of Mood Hall that converted it from a residence hall to a mix of classrooms and faculty offices, the faculty offices that were located in the Field House were moved back into Mood-Bridwell Hall. The offices of Southwestern President Reverend Lawrence D. Fleming and the vice president then temporarily moved into the house. After the president’s office moved to Cullen, other assorted faculty offices were located here until 1978, when the Field House then served as the alumni office until 1982. In 1982, the space was used by the new “Student Development Center,” which offered counseling services, career development, health education, and learning assistance.
The student development center was one of the longer-lasting uses of the Field House, located here from 1982 to 1994. Also during this time, the Dean of Students office and Southwestern’s first African-American professor and Director of Multicultural Affairs, Dr. Gregory Washington, used the space. In 1990 the Southwestern University Police Department occupied the building until relocating to West Gym in 1994. They would return to the Field House later that year. Since 1994, the Southwestern Police Department and Korouva Milk Bar have simultaneously occupied the Field House, though Korouva was closed down for COVID and never re-opened. As of right now, the Southwestern Police Department is the only active organization utilizing the Field House.
The Old Field House encapsulates memory in many ways, however, there are two very distinct ways in which it does this: its name and its uses over time. First, the name of the building, the Old Field House, “freezes” the structure in its distant past when it was used for this athletic purpose, even though that was only one of many purposes and only for a relatively brief time compared to some of its uses. The name reminds passers-by of a glimpse into how this area of campus was utilized when football games were played at Snyder Field in Southwestern’s first football program, which ended in 1949.
Second, the oddly shaped building and its strange layout itself suggest that it has seen many changes over time. More important, the now-closed café Korouva Milk Bar, is materially remembered at the site because nearly every semblance of the café still exists as it did when it closed three years ago. Korouva and Southwestern University alumni are physically memorialized by the Old Field House because nearly everything–murals, student signatures, cash registers, menus, etc.--have been left behind within the building, but not for long, as the Old Field House is slated to be demolished as part of the current Facilities Master Plan.
The Old Field House is a unique, historically rich, overlooked, and odd building which somehow has survived on campus for over 90 years. Its survival is surprising given that it has no clear identity, but that fact has become what is most worth remembering about this building, because I believe that this building has been used to serve more functions than any other building currently on campus. Not only did it move around, but many different individuals moved in and out of it over time. It has been an administrator’s home, an athletic field house, the President’s office, a faculty building, a café, and University Police station. It has been home to several administrative offices, a part of World War II and Naval training, and several more. For these reasons, I believe the Old Field House deserves more recognition and active memorialization.
