By BENJAMIN KLIEWER, Student Reporter
University officials are renovating a room in Percefull Fieldhouse to be the new home of the Northwestern Athletic Hall of Fame.
Officials will hang photographs from the hall of fame in a room adjacent to the concession stand inside the fieldhouse.
Pictures of hall of fame members were in the Ranger Room, but have been in storage for years.
Renovations of the space began earlier this year.
Brad Franz, the university’s athletic director and hall of fame committee chair, has spearheaded the effort.
“This has really been important to me because I am a strong believer in our history,” Franz said. “There are so many Ranger ‘greats’ that are in those pictures that played a role in Ranger athletic folklore, and I am just really proud to have them have a home.”
University officials hope to have the hall of fame open by Nov. 15.
Randy Smith, a former student athlete, baseball coach and dean of student services, founded the hall of fame in 1993.
Smith said the hall of fame was created to bring recognition to Rangers “who have made outstanding contributions to Northwestern, either through their athletic performance or coaching performance or sometimes in other ways.”
Smith said he has always wanted to have the hall of fame in a high-traffic area so more people can see it, and he believes the new location will do that.
Workers are putting drywall over existing walls, and they will install new red and black floor tiles. There will also be renovations to the concession stand.
The framing and matting of the photographs will all have the same design.
Four anonymous donors and the university are funding the project.
“I am very thankful for the four donors and Northwestern for making this happen,” Franz said.