Seventy-five years ago this month, Cape Girardeau lost its "true community center."

On the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 17, 1948, fire destroyed the 21-year-old Houck Field House on the State College campus. Not only was the field house the home of the Indians' basketball games, it also housed hoop competition for Cape Girardeau Central High School, College High School and the Sunday School League. In addition it served as the site for political rallies, patriotic assemblies, religious meetings, Scouting events, cooking schools and an untold number of other public gatherings.

Built in 1927 through the efforts of then college president Dr. Joseph A. Serena, loss of the field house was significant for the college and the community. Here's the Southeast Missourian's coverage from that day and the next day's editorial.

Published Tuesday, Feb. 17, 1948, in the Southeast Missourian:

Fire early today completely destroyed Houck Field House of the State College plant, a community center in Cape Girardeau for 21 years. This picture, made during the heavy morning fog, was taken shortly after the roof and the front entrance wall had collapsed. Due to the heavy fog, few, including many living in the nearby area, were aware of the fire, which quickly destroyed the big building. (Southeast Missourian archive)

HOUCK FIELD HOUSE DESTROYED BY FIRE

COLLEGE BUILDING LONG USED AS COMMUNITY CENTER BY CAPE BURNS

Houck Field House, long a center of community activity, was destroyed by fire of undetermined origin at 7 a.m. today. Six men, State College students living in the building, fled to safety through a window after one of their number smashed the glass.

No official estimate of the loss was available, but in unofficial estimates, based on present day building costs, it was thought it would run as high as $75,000. In addition to this, more than $10,000 worth of athletic equipment, practically the entire college stock, was lost.

James Crawford, one of the six, was awakened by the smoke and aroused the others, Wm. Schnell, Gene Dawson, Joe Carey, Bill Abernathy and Charles Weber. The latter, partially overcome by the smoke, was found on the floor of the living quarters by Abernathy and aroused.

In dense smoke

Crawford said he made his way to the east or main entrance of the building to telephone an alarm, but could not reach the phone because of the dense smoke. Others seeking to escape by the front door found it locked. Crawford then went to the nearby Wulfers home and found the alarm had already been turned in.

Abernathy sustained several cuts on his hands in smashing the window, but was not seriously hurt.

The men practically lost all their effects and Crawford saved only the shorts he was wearing. Abernathy said he tossed two suits out of the window.

The men said the fire appeared to be most severe in the area near where the furnace is located, but none appeared to be directly about the furnace.

Furnace shut off

The stoker to the furnace was shut off early in the evening, the students said, this being the customary procedure.

One theory advanced was that perhaps a lighted cigarette had been dropped in the bleachers during the evening and that the dry timber smoldered for hours before breaking into flames.

The fire broke out in the midst of the dense fog that reduced visibility at times to less than one half block.

Smoke from the burning building could be seen only a short distance and the flames were discernible less than a block. Many driving on streets only a few blocks away were unaware of the fire.

Built in 1927

The field house was erected in 1927 at a cost of $29,496.96 and has served since as general community and recreation center not only for the college but for the whole town.

President W.W. Parker said that he would confer at once with members of the Board of Regents. There are many problems to be taken up, he explained, and one of the major points to be talked over is the matter of seeking an emergency appropriation for a new structure.

This would have to be presented to the Legislature for passage and if a new structure is to be available for next basketball season, construction would have to begin with a comparatively short time. Location and other matters would also have to be given consideration.

Cause not determined

President Parker said there appears to be no way to determine the cause of the fire. He related that all wiring was in conduits and that there had been no difficulty with heating equipment. He was told, Dr. Parker continued, that the fire appeared to have started on the north side of the building. He said he had discussed possible causes with V.A. Chapman, superintendent of grounds and buildings, and they agreed that it would probably remain undetermined.

The structure when built cost $29,496.96, Dr. Parker said after referring to the files. He would not hazard a prediction on the replacement value, but observed that with present building costs it would cost many times that amount to erect a modern gymnasium building.

"If and when a new building is erected," Dr. Parker said, "it will have to be more adequate."

The loss was partially covered by insurance, the college carrying $20,350 on the building.

The fire came only a few hours after a crowd of 1,500 persons saw a charity basketball game between the Kiwanis Club and Optimist Club. The game was over about 10 o'clock.

Basketball Coach Joe McDonald said prior to his arrival at the scene, some eight or 10 men students of the college, including Robert Merrick and W.R. Nichols, both members of the basketball team, and Wm. R. Vogel, had made their way into the locker room of the burning building. There were able to get some 10 or 12 game basketball uniforms and shoes from lockers, but this was the only equipment saved.

In the store room and in the storage space overhead was football and track equipment. None was saved and the loss of these items alone will amount to several thousands of dollars.

Heavy equipment lost

One file cabinet was saved from the office of Coach McDonald and Football Coach Wayne Goddard. A number of records were lost in the fire, but duplicates may be at offices at the college, Coach McDonald said. Records and coaching material in desks in the field house office were lost.

Dawson, one of those who escaped from the blazing structure, said he was able to save a few items of clothing, but lost two suits, a set of contact lenses, an expensive camera, a wrist watch, and all of his underclothing.

Weber said he was able to salvage a suit and a pair of dungarees, but otherwise lost all of his personal effects. The other students were able to save only a few minor pieces of clothing.

Leo Wulfers, who turned in the fire alarm, said he first noticed the flames shooting out three windows at the rear of the southwest corner of the building at 6:55 o'clock. It appeared from his vantage point, he said, that the fire was somewhat concentrated at that point, but spread rapidly. He was just turning in the alarm when Crawford ran to his residence to call the fire department.

Third engine called

After the first two fire trucks had arrived at the scene, Chief Carl Lewis sent a call back to the station for a third, leaving one truck at headquarters.

At 7:15 o'clock, a call came to the station from 909 College Hill reporting that a house across the street was on fire. The fourth truck was dispatched immediately to this spot, leaving the fire station without equipment.

It was found on arrival that the person reporting the fire had seen the flames from the field house but because of the dense fog had assumed it was across the street. The truck immediately returned to the station, leaving one fireman at the nearby field house to assist other members of the department.

Taking walls down

Mr. Chapman told a reporter the fire seemed to have started on the north side of the building about midway in the bleachers. He said that wiring was out as a possible cause because of the conduits, and additionally that the college power went off at 11 o'clock as it regularly does.

There was no possibility, either, he said that the furnace could have caused the fire. It is lined with 24-inch flue lining and there would be no chance of a blaze from this cause, Mr. Chapman said, he believed.

A section of one wall next to the garage at the rear of the field house was pulled down this morning and as the embers cool the other concrete block walls still standing will be pulled down to prevent any injury from a sudden collapse, Mr. Chapman said.

Dr. Parker reported this afternoon that Judge L.R. Kelso, a member of the Board of Regents, had called the six men in this morning and underwrote the cost of outfitting them with clothing so they may attend classes until complete wardrobes can be refurnished.

The flames also destroyed a bass horn valued at $400 belonging to the College Band, a drum worth about $60 and an upright piano on which no value could be placed. A bass horn belonging to the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band and left there following the game Monday night was also ruined. It was valued at around $500.

Until a few weeks ago, a large number of men students were housed in dormitory fashion with double deck bunks in the handball court at the rear of the building. They had been moved to other quarters, however, and this section was unoccupied.

BUILDER CALLS ON GIRARDEAU TO HELP GET NEW COMMUNITY CENTER

"I think the town should come in again and in a real way to help build another great field house," said Dr. Joseph A. Serena, former president of State College, who was directly responsible for the erection of the building destroyed by fire today.

"The field house has been a great community center and the service it has rendered can never be forgotten by the people of Cape Girardeau," he added.

And, a Cape Girardeau mother voiced the sentiments of many as she said: "Where will the children go now? They have no recreation center. As it was they could go to the basketball games. What will they do now?"

Houck Field House, a community center for 21 years. (Southeast Missourian archive)

FIELD HOUSE HAD LONG SERVED AS TRUE COMMUNITY CENTER

No building in town has so well served the whole community and southeast Missouri as well as did Houck Field House in the 21 years that it has been a part of Cape Girardeau.

Besides its use by State College basketball teams and by ones of Central High School, College High School and the Sunday School League, it has been the scene of innumerable gatherings of a community and district nature. Great political meetings, religious evangelistic services, union meetings, automobile shows, The Missourian's cooking schools, Scout events, civic celebrations of varied character and countless others have been held there.

During the winter months in particular the field house was in use almost every night. Cape Girardeau has nothing remaining as much of a community center as was Houck Field House.

The field house was the direct outgrowth of the Billy Sunday evangelistic meeting of 1925 and of the executive genius of Dr. Joseph A. Serena, former president of the college, who envisioned it as the great community center it turned out to be.

And its destruction was a personal loss to Dr. Serena, who today, in discussing its construction, could hardly control his emotion.

It was the Billy Sunday meeting that really made it possible and provided the necessary impetus. When the meeting ended and the question arose as to what was to be done with the lumber used in the tabernacle, the suggestions was made that it be turned over to Dr. Serena to be used in a college building. The tabernacle was on North Middle, at Bellevue street.

Dr. Serena promptly accepted the timber and other material in the tabernacle, valued at about $2,500, and all was used, including the windows which went into the upper part of the building and the tar paper roof.

The building was erected by day labor under direct supervision of Dr. Serena, who had close assistance from Prof. Charles Lamb and Henry M. Dalton, who drew the plans; and from Prof. W.T. Doherty of the college athletic committee and Coach Ferd Courieux, who made practical suggestions as to arrangements. In this way an architect's fee was saved.

Members of the college faculty and many townspeople also made liberal contributions, Dr. Serena recalled.

Walls of the building were made of concrete blocks, but aside from steel girders, supports, etc., all other material was of timber.

The first public use to which the field house was put came in May, 1927, when hundreds of residents of the McClure, Illinois, area, driven from their homes by high water of the Mississippi River of that year, were housed there. It provided the only place in the community for such assistance.

Editorial published Friday, Feb. 18, 1948, in the Southeast Missourian:

A MAJOR LOSS TO THE COMMUNITY

Few times in its history has Cape Girardeau suffered a grater calamity than occurred yesterday morning when fire destroyed Houck Field House, for the field house was more than just another building at State College where basketball games and other athletic events were held; it was a community center, a sort of symbol of friendliness and cooperation among all of us.

The field house was conceived in that manner by the man who made it possible and its use down through the years has carried out that idea. Gatherings of all kinds have been held within its spacious confines, civic celebrations, religious meetings, political rallies, college events, all indicative of the cooperation and harmony in our town. And, the field house was always open to the activities of Central High School and regularly used by it for basketball games and the like. Also its served as a place for many district events that brought people to Cape Girardeau.

It was more a symbol of the community than anything else perhaps that we have.

* * *

As a news item yesterday pointed out, Houck Field Stadium grew out of the Billy Sunday evangelical campaign. When the revival came to a close, the question arose as to what should be done with the lumber in the tabernacle. It could have been sold and the money prorated among those who had made the revival possible, but rather the lumber was given to Dr. (Joseph) Serena, then president of the college, who said he would use it for the purpose which he did, erect a field house which besides being an athletic center which the college needed, also could serve as a community center.

The tabernacle provided only a small part of the material which was needed, but it was the spark that enabled Dr. Serena to do a great service for the college and for his community, an accomplishment second only to what appeared to be the insurmountable task of making a stadium out of an abandoned stone quarry. (Referring to Houck Stadium. - Sharon) He built the field house like he did the stadium, on a shoe string, but he built well, and while Houck Field House is gone the memory of the service it rendered to this community and to the district will live on.

* * *

With the field house a memory fresh in our minds, the thing to do now is to help see that another is built in its place, and immediately. The old field house was being outgrown rapidly as it was and the new building when erected must be a commodious structure that will take care of the needs of the college for years to come.

Primarily the job of rebuilding is up to the college and to the State Legislature and The Missourian has no doubt but what immediate steps will be taken to bring the matter to the attention of the General Assembly.

But the job is also one for the citizens of this community and one that we cannot and must not shirk. The field house has meant to much to us.

Our great trouble in Cape Girardeau has been to take for granted the facilities the field house offered. It was a part of the community, ever open to any worthwhile affair, and we have accepted it in that manner too often without giving a second thought to what we were getting.

But now we must remember that we have a responsibility, that if the field house is to be replaced with a worthwhile building suitable to the needs then there is something we must do.

There is a task ahead for all, the city government the Chamber of Commerce, the service clubs and for all citizens.

Helping to get an immediate replacement for Houck Field House is a Cape Girardeau responsibility we cannot evade.

The day after the fire, the Board of Regents met and determined $500,000 would be needed to construct a a replacement facility. It was decided to contact the chairman of the state House appropriations committee as quickly as possible to ask for funds for the re-building of Houck.

A delegation traveled to Jefferson City Feb. 26, 1948, to meet with the committee. Although the estimated replacement cost had grown to $758,687, Judge I.R. Kelso, spokesman for the delegation, said, "...in a spirit of economy, we're only asking for $500,000..."

On June 3, 1948, Gov. Phil M. Donnelly approved the requested funding.

Latta and Ryan Construction Co. received the contract to build the new field house for $482,000 on March 2, 1949. The present Houck Field House was received by the university Feb. 7, 1951, and the first basketball game was played there Feb. 12, 1951, against Kirksville, Missouri. The Indians trimmed the Bulldogs 48-45.