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With Cole Field House Future Uncertain, Some Worry a Piece of History May Be Lost Terps guard Juan Dixon helps cut down the net following the Terps' last home game at Cole Field House March 3. The University of Maryland men's team beat the Virginia Cavaliers, 112-92. (Photo by Maha Ezzeddine) By Maha Ezzeddine Maryland Newsline Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002 COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Comfort will replace tradition when the University of Maryland's state-of-the-art basketball arena opens this fall, ending the 47-year reign of Cole Field House. But some who remember a younger Cole worry about what will happen to the building after the teams move out. "You're in the dark as much as we are," said university spokesman George Cathcart. He added some of the offices vacated by the athletic department will be used temporarily by campus departments that are strapped for space. "Ultimately, there will be a facilities' committee that will decide," Cathcart said. When the committee will be formed and who will be on it has not been determined, he said. With a Metro line being proposed to run through campus, there is a chance that Cole could be converted to a new stop. "We haven't ruled it out," said Lorenzo Bryant, project manager for the Maryland Transit Authority. But, he said, it hasn't been formally discussed. Cole Field House is also being pitched as one of the venues available if the 2012 summer Olympics are awarded to the Washington, D.C., region. Dan Knise, president of Washington DC 2012, said Cole has been proposed as a site for team handball competitions. Nothing will be decided on the field house until the bid is either turned down or accepted by the United States Olympic Committee this fall, said Curt Callahan, assistant athletic director of operations. "The building's not going anywhere"--at least not in the near future, Callahan said. Other fans hope Cole will stay right where it's been for the long haul.  Jack Zane, director of the Walk of Fame, an exhibit that will commemorate campus athletes, was a student when Cole opened in 1955 and has worked in the building since 1969. He's convinced there are uses for it yet. "Cole is more than a basketball court," said Zane, who served as director of ticket operations at Cole for almost 15 years. "I'd like to see the office space utilized and keep the place like it is," Zane said. "It can be used like it is now, except for the basketball." Inside an empty Cole Field House (Photo by Maha Ezzeddine) Although some offices and programs in the building, such as ROTC and occasional Student Entertainment Events productions, might stay for now, the entire athletic department will leave Cole in the fall, said David Haglund, an associate athletics director. The original floor has been sanded so many times it's not worth keeping, Zane said. The boards will be pulled up, sold on $45 to $275 plaques to sentimental fans and replaced with a new floor, Zane said. Whether the court will continue to host games and practices for other teams has not been decided. Cole's basketball court has been used for everything from commencements, concerts, NCAA wrestling tournaments, Elvis Presley and Bob Hope performances and, of course, NCAA Final Four games.  The building has been home to Terrapin boxing, basketball, track, swimming, gymnastics, volleyball and wrestling. Cole Field House sits near the center of the University of Maryland, College Park, campus. (Photo by Maha Ezzeddine) The Capital Bullets, now the Washington Wizards, played their NBA games at Cole in the 1970s while they waited for the Capital Centre to be completed. Cole has helped make history, too. In 1972, the first sporting event in history between the United States and China, a ping-pong match, was played under Cole's roof. It has hosted U.S. presidents and was the site of the 1966 NCAA championship that pitted a black starting five for Texas Western against the University of Kentucky's all-white team--helping to force Southern colleges to desegregate in order to keep their competitive edge. Kevin Messenger, the athletic department's associate director of media relations, said that during the final men's basketball game at Cole on Sunday, players will hand the ball to students in a symbolic ceremony ending the court's legacy. "It symbolizes that when we're through with Cole, we'll give it back to campus and the students," Messenger said. Many students hope Cole is treated well. Juan Dixon, a senior star on the Terrapin basketball team, said Cole is "a special place" on campus. "Everybody's become used to the place," Zane agreed. "There's just no other building that has the atmosphere we have here. "I'd hate to see the building go." Copyright © 2002 University of Maryland College of Journalism Top of Page | Home Page