Art Linkletter and Students at the Dedication of the Fuller Arts Center at Springfield College, 1984

This is a photograph of Art Linkletter and two students at the dedication of the Fuller Arts Center at Springfield College on May 4, 1984. Art Linkletter, the famed entertained, is in the middle of the photograph, on the left, is David S Smith Jr, class of 1984, his major is Physical Education, and he is one of the Springfield College Exhibition Dancers at the dedication. On the right is an unidentified female student, who was another performer at the dedication. The three of them are all laughing.The Fuller Arts Center is an 11,500-square-foot theatre and auditorium on the Springfield College campus. In 1973, undergraduate Dennis St. Jean and his friends came up with the idea of building a theater on campus. They produced and directed the College’s first “Best of Broadway” in Moses Hall and, along with the handful of money they collected from the show, gave the money as a “down payment” on the new theater to President Wilbert E. Locklin. By the late '70s the fund grew to $10,000, and the future theater was incorporated into the Capital Campaign. By 1978 Art Linkletter, the famed entertainer and one of the main contributors to the Art Linkletter Natatorium, had contributed $50,000 himself. Other leading contributors were Julius and Louise Appleton, the George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation, and the George I. Alden Trust. Construction began on the corner of Hickory Street and Wilbraham Avenue on March 3, 1983. The total cost of the building was $850,000. On May 4, 1984, Art Linkletter hosted the dedication performance. The Appleton Auditorium can accommodate a diversity of activities, such as plays, films, concerts, and public lectures. The original stage was 4’4” high, 47 feet wide and 23 feet deep. The stage had a remote controlled movie screen measuring 18 feet wide and 13.5 feet high. The building was renovated and rededicated in the spring of 2009. Renovations included a new entrance, a new façade of glass, brick, and limestone, new flooring, and a track-lighted ceiling. Other improvements were new stage flooring, curtains, sound system, carpeting, and acoustical wall panels. The Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for the renovation was held on Thursday, March 5, 2009.Photography by Vincent S. D'Addario. 145 Homestead Ave. Holyoke, Mass. 01040. Tel. 1-413-538-801