Old Gold was a high school junior in 1973 when the Grateful Dead blasted through the University of Iowa Field House. It was a Friday night show, Feb. 24, definitely not a school night. Still, Old Gold didn’t make the trek—he was nearly three hours away, at home in Charles City, Iowa, naïve and unaware of almost anything happening outside Floyd County. Which made the mystique of the Field House all the more alluring.

Word of the concert spread in the days and weeks that followed. A couple of Old Gold’s friends, 1972 CCHS graduates who’d become UI freshmen, regaled him with tales from that night when they returned to “Chucktown” for spring break. Old Gold was in awe and assumed all of the stories were true. Alas, space prevents Old Gold from repeating any of them here.

The venerable Field House, cradle of many campus legends, was big from the start. Dedicated in 1927 (though its first basketball game was played Dec. 4, 1926), it boasted the world’s largest indoor gymnasium and swimming pool at the time—464 by 430 feet, with a seating capacity of 15,000. It was built for $300,000, funded by bonds and paid off in only 10 years.

From 1926 until 1983, when Carver-Hawkeye Arena opened, the Field House was home to the Hawkeye men’s and women’s basketball teams. Swimming and gymnastics competitions have continued there, though the pool will be decommissioned next May.

Basketball tales alone could fill several Old Gold installments. Legendary coaches who walked through the Field House included “Pops” Harrison in the 1940s, “Bucky” O’Connor in the 1950s, Ralph Miller in the 1960s, and Lute Olson in the 1970s. Iowa was the Big Ten Conference champion eight times during that era and reached the NCAA semifinals in 1955, 1956, and 1980.

The Field House hosted women’s basketball for only eight years, but they were formative years for the program, according to Lee Ann Hughes, then-director of women’s sports information. Iowa wrestling became a national powerhouse under the Field House roof, winning a dozen Big Ten titles and eight NCAA team championships before moving to Carver in 1983. Coaches were Mike Howard (1922–52), Dave McCuskey (1953–72), Gary Kurdelmeier (1973–76), and Dan Gable (1976–1997).

With completion of the new Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, perhaps the Field House would consider retirement. Not so. It continues to host intramurals, club sports, and classes. Though the pool will close next spring, basketball and racquetball courts will continue to operate.
If only those walls could speak. Maybe Old Gold could finally confirm some of those stories.

—David McCartney, University Archivist

Color postcard featuring new Field House, ca. 1930

F.W. Kent Photographs Collection (RG 30.01.01), Buildings series, “Field House” folder, University Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries

New basketball floor at the Field House, 1949

Source—F.W. Kent Photographs Collection (RG 30.01.01), Buildings series, “Field House-interiors” folder, University Archives, University of Iowa Libraries

Field House dedication program, January 1927Campus Buildings and Grounds Vertical File Collection (RG 01.15.02), “Field House” folder, University Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries

Basketball program, March 1956Department of Athletics Guides, Programs and Tickets Collection (RG 28.03.03), series II “Men’s Basketball Programs”, University Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries