Spring 1997

It’s time to say goodbye

The new Alumni Center for Athletics and Recreation dwarfs the nearby, worn-out Shook Fieldhouse and its state-of-the-art amenities have the campus community eagerly awaiting its opening in the fall of 1997. But before the Fieldhouse is given its last rites, its storied history on the banks of Lost Creek needs to be told once more.

Perhaps no other facility on campus has been used by every graduate since the building opened in 1948. Whether it was receiving a diploma, shooting a few baskets during a study break, exercising in the weightroom facilities or merely watching classmates perform in a varsity competition nearly every Rose-Hulman student in the second half of the 20th century has used the multipurpose building designed originally to be a B-29 airplane hangar.

Shook Fieldhouse played host to its final season of varsity athletic competition this year. The building was given a grand send-off by the men’s basketball team.

On Feb. 19, Rose-Hulman won its final regular season basketball game in Shook Fieldhouse over Wabash College (70-52). That unforgettable game was played in front of a standing-room-only record crowd (2,650), and created an atmosphere like none witnessed before in the grand ol’ building.

The Engineers then hosted an NCAA Division III Tournament basketball game in Shook Fieldhouse, wrapping up the storied hoops side of the hangar legend with an 86-69 NCAA Tournament win over Washington University.

The fieldhouse has served as a multipurpose facility since being designed by 1911 Rose-Hulman architecture graduate and Rose-Hulman Athletic Hall of Fame member Wilbur Shook. It was named after Shook at his 50th class reunion in 1961.

The fieldhouse has been the home to Engineer athletic teams, and intramural and recreational sports since late 1948. It has also been used as the site for the school’s commencement, served as a site for final exams, and housed numerous special events including concerts by the The Association, Harry Chapin and REO Speedwagon.

The building has undergone many changes since it opened including the evolution from a dirt floor to the current tartan surface, and the addition of the E.E. Black Recreation Center.

The close of the 1996-97 season truly marked the end of an era in Rose-Hulman basketball history. Since the building opened, Engineer basketball fans found a way to capitalize on its unique acoustics and design.

The familiar clacking of hand-held wooden blocks, the ringing of the school’s bell, the shrieking of horns and sirens, the dropping of the "Give `Em Hell Rose" banner, and the traditional cannon blast as the Engineers made their appearance on the court all added to Shook’s charm.

Rose-Hulman’s success at Shook Fieldhouse is just one reason opponents will be glad to see the building go. The Engineers were 102-22 in Shook over the last eleven seasons, an .823 winning percentage. A 1989 survey listed the fieldhouse as one of the five toughest places for opponents to play in NCAA Division III.

Hall of Fame Coach John Mutchner coached in the building from 1963-88, and established many of the traditions that existed until the final buzzer sounded on March 6 of this year - including the use of the famous cannon.

"Shook in its time was the best building around. It was the one thing that binds all of us together," he told a group of former players, coaches and Rose-Hulman staff at a celebration honoring Shook Fieldhouse following this year’s alumni game. But this new building is magnificent, and will keep Rose-Hulman in the forefront.

The "new building" will keep Rose-Hulman among the best of the best, but the traditions and memories created during the Shook Fieldhouse era will not be forgotten.

"We plan on keeping many of the bells and whistles that made Shook Fieldhouse unique when we move into the new facility, and we are even looking at adding some new noisemakers," said Rose-Hulman President Dr. Samuel Hulbert, who has served as a cheerleader on the Engineer bench for the past twenty years.

Shook Fieldhouse has not only been home to the basketball team, but also to the Rose-Hulman men’s indoor track and field team, the wrestling team, and the recently established women’s basketball, volleyball and track squads. Rose-Hulman’s first home women’s basketball game against crosstown rival St. Mary-of-the-Woods College brought 2,200 screaming fans to Shook Fieldhouse in December 1995.

Every Rose-Hulman commencement since 1949 has been held in Shook Fieldhouse, and final examinations are still administered there every quarter.

Shook’s final role will be to house the solar-powered cars participating in Sunrayce 97 this June. Once the solar cars leave campus on June 20, the wrecking ball will take over to make way for the $19.5 million Alumni Center. The area currently occupied by Shook Fieldhouse will become a parking lot.

by Darin Bryan