Wayback Wednesday: Openings, Offically

Today marks the official opening of the Student Union with a ribbon cutting ceremony, so it’s not too much of a leap to wonder what another official opening way back in September, 1973, was like. Imagine opening the doors to a completely new campus! So much work had gone into it: locating the land, the careful planning, and then, finally, construction. After seven years located in downtown Champaign, there must have been great fanfare when the permanent campus opened for classes, right? Turns out, not so much. 

No ribbon cutting. No speeches. Things were pretty laid back.

The new Parkland campus was opened to the public for viewing on Sunday, September 9.  Perhaps it was because campus was only 75% complete – construction continued as classes began – that led to the decision to keep the event low key. From an article of the Courier, dated September 10: 

The open house was unstructured with no speeches or ribbon cutting formalities. Persons of all ages roamed through the sprawling building at their leisure.

A special supplement to the Sunday, September 9, News Gazette read, “The campus, with its steep roofs, sloping hallways and arched windows, has been compared to anything from an Illinois farm complex to a Swiss ski lodge. No one calls it traditional.” Reception was largely positive. Members of the community were curious to see the end result of what had, for various reasons, been a controversial venture. Most approved the home-like atmosphere and were impressed by the new technologies they had seen, but others expressed concern over the expense. One visitor commented that there seemed to be more leisure space than classrooms. In addition to informal tours of the building, hands on activities were also available, according to the Courier article, “In the computer areas you could try out the keypunch machines and take home a data card as a souvenir.“

President William Staerkel leads a tour of Parkland College, ca 1974

Don’t let the casual approach fool you; a message from Dr. Staerkel, which was included on the front page of a special edition of Prospectus, speaks to the pride with which he and the Board of Trustees presented the new complex:

Replacing the old, makeshift quarters, as sparkling new campus is designed to provide the latest conveniences for learning and instruction, and is unsurpassed in the nation for its utility and planning. You have the honor and privilege of being the first to occupy these new quarters.
 

Here’s an undated early picture of the campus. Can you see where the Union now stands ?

In a way, it seems as if the official opening of the Student Union makes up for one that didn't take place, officially, 41 years ago, and it makes Parkland "sparkling new" all over again.

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Wayback Wednesday is a feature of the Parkland College Archives. If you have ideas you'd like to see in future posts, email us at archives@parkland.edu. The Archives is open to faculty, staff, students and the public by appointment.