Springfield College proposal for funding to the Kresge Foundation (January 25, 1983)

Springfield College · January 25, 1983

This nine page document is a proposal to the Kresge Foundation to fund the Fuller Arts Center on the campus of Springfield College. It includes a two page letter, a six page proposal, and a one page fact sheet created by Springfield College. The letter and the document is dated January 25 , 1983. The letter was written to Mr. Alfred H. Taylor , Jr. President , Secretary and Chief Administrative Officer of The Kresge Foundation. The letter and the document outline past support that the Kresge Foundation has given to Springfield College and the reasons for future donations. 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. 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.