The Construction Site of the Fuller Arts Center at Springfield College

This is a photograph of the construction site of the Fuller Arts Center at Springfield College, circa 1983. Piles of bricks are on the side, some builders are working on the scaffold.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, 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. In side the entrance is the Linkletter Gallery, named after Art Linkletter, the famed entertainer. The auditorium is named after the youngest son of Julius and Louise Appleton who died in a car accident. It has 300 seats and can accommodate a diversity of activities, such as plays, films, concerts, and public lectures. The stage in the auditorium was 4’4” high, 47 feet wide and 23 feet deep, it 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