International Hall (September, 2000)

September 2000

This photograph shows Springfield College dormitory, International Hall (September, 2000). The photograph is taken from a distance through some trees, and a part of the building is blocked by the trees on the left. Behind the trees, on bottom left corner, the photograph shows a part of another building, which could be the Fuller Arts Center. Two people who seem to be students can be seen walking on the sidewalk on the bottom right corner of the photograph. Several parked cars can be seen in the background in the parking lot in front of International Hall. International Hall was the first new dormitory constructed after the tripod of dorms (Lakeside, Massasoit, Reed) were constructed during the 1950s. The target completion date for the dorm was September 15th, 1964 and the ground breaking ceremony was held a little over a year earlier on July 15th, 1963 at 10am. The eight-story high rise housed 307 students and cost $1,137,000 dollars. By the time of its completion 1200 out of Springfield’s 1600 full-time students lived on campus. The eighth floor, which is now a large lounge, was originally a classroom. The dormitory was officially dedicated on in October 1964. On June 1, 2011, a category EF3 tornado hit the city of Springfield, Massachusetts and caused severe damage to Springfield College’s campus. International Hall, which was hit dead on, sustained the greatest amount of damage. The tornado shattered every window, tore all the internal doors from their hinges, jostled the furniture and blew dozens of mattresses into the lake. The entire building was renovated and repaired within twelve weeks, in time for students to move in, a task which could have taken at least a year. The tornado tore up trees for a quarter mile along the shore of Massasoit Lake and today students on the eighth floor can see out over the lake and into the city. A label on the back of the photograph says "September 2000", which indicates that the photograph was taken in September, 2000.