NEWS

Finch's history deeper than athletics

Concerts, protests, vaccination clinics part of building's legacy

| Author: Eric Baerren | Media Contact: Aaron Mills

For most of its 75 years, Finch Fieldhouse was known for Central Michigan University athletics. But the building's history is much broader. It housed graduation ceremonies, concerts, protests and vaccination clinics.

So far, more than 200 people have pre-registered to attend the celebration event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 22, in , said Tim Otteman, chairman of the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services department. One piece of that celebration is a timeline outlining the building's history.

Some of those highlights were captured in the following photos:

A man in an overcoat and hat uses a trowel to spread concrete in a black-and-white photograph.
Charles Anspach lays Finch Fieldhouse's cornerstone in 1950. At the time, the school was Central Michigan College. That changed in 1959 when it was renamed Central Michigan University. Anspach retired a short time later as CMU's first president.
Four suit-wearing musicians, one playing an upright base and one playing a trumpet, perform on a stage in a black-and-white photograph.
Louis Armstrong performed in Finch Fieldhouse on May 16, 1958, as part of the festivities for the first Greek Week. Finch also hosted graduation ceremonies during this time. Six days before it was named Central Michigan University, 4,500 students graduated from Central Michigan College. At the time, 4,500 students were enrolled in a school that had 40 buildings on a 235-acre campus.
Many people sit on a gymnasium floor and in stadium-style seating facing the right side of a black-and-white photograph.
Attendees at a protest to end of the war in Vietnam listened to speeches in Finch Fieldhouse on Oct. 15, 1969. While Finch Fieldhouse has been synonymous with CMU athletics for most of its history, the large open space has made it a perfect place for large gatherings of people concerned with social issues. Finch was used as the location for the AIDS Quilt in 1992. It's also hosted the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Brunch.
A man dressed in traditional indigenous garb holds an American flag in a black-and-white photo with two other men in the background.
CMU's 'Celebrating Life' Pow Wow was first held in Finch Fieldhouse in 1989. It was held in Finch until 2010. That year, it was moved to McGuirk Arena.
The words Adventure Seminars appear on a wall and a gymnasium floor.
Finch Fieldhouse has undergone several renovations over the years, including major overhauls in 2013 and 2022. In 2013, the floor and walls were redone in the big gymnasium that houses the climbing wall, which itself was built between 1998-2001.
People in small groups sit in multiple stations spread out across a gymnasium floor.
A partnership between Central Michigan University and the Central Michigan Health District led to vaccination clinics held in Finch Fieldhouse during the COVID-19 pandemic. That included some of the first in Isabella County in March, 2021.
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