Campus Chronicles: Sheridan Hall

By ALICIA FEYERHERM

Tiger Media Network

While the physical structures that make up Fort Hays State University’s campus may not be the most interesting part of Fort Hays and its history, each building has a unique story to tell. Throughout a three-part series, the history of some of FHSU’s most iconic buildings will be explored. 

Campus Chronicles Part Three: Sheridan Hall.

The Coliseum 

Fort Hays Kansas Normal School President William A. Lewis was one of the primary advocates for bringing a coliseum to campus. He wanted a “large auditorium and classroom building which could also serve as a gymnasium, livestock pavilion, and showplace”¹.

However, wanting a coliseum is one thing. Finding funding for one is a different beast entirely. 

Securing funding through the legislature for this project was no easy task. Rep. John Schlicher from Sheridan County was instrumental in passing the bill through the Appropriation Committee. 

He was met with “vituperations and ridicule.” Committee members hurled insults at the people of western Kansas as a whole saying, “they wouldn’t know what to do with an education if they had it”². 

At one point, the debates became so heated that Schlicher grabbed his chair and held it “menacingly” above his head ³. The gesture quelled the opposition, but he was fined a barrel of apples for his outburst ². 

Issues continued when the bill was brought before the Senate and the House. The Republican-majority House included $125,000 for the Coliseum in House Bill 1087. The Democratic-controlled Senate waited until three days before the end of session and then combined House Bill 1087 with other bills to create Senate Bill 1086 and increased all house appropriations.

“The Republican majority in the house, with no chance for a lower appropriation bill, passed the bill and sent it to (Governor) Capper and urged him to blue line the excess of the Democrats,” a Sheridan Coliseum history brochure said ¹. 

Gov. Arthur Capper slashed buildings for other institutions from the budget, but Fort Hays was in a unique position. Since the Senate had lumped in the coliseum appropriations with Fort Hays’s general appropriations,  Capper could only approve or drop an appropriation entirely. Under Kansas Law, he could not increase or decrease the appropriation. 

“To blue line the Fort Hays appropriation would be to discontinue the school; to approve the bulk appropriation would give the school a building in one lump appropriation,” the brochure said ¹. 

Capper approved the appropriation, leaving the new Coliseum as the only legislative appropriation for a building for any state school in 1915.

Legislators were still critical of the use of state funds for such a large building. Some even called  it “The White Elephant of Western Kansas” ¹.

Construction

Construction for the Coliseum began in 1915 and was completed in 1916. 

The limestone used for the building was quarried on campus ⁴.

Retired Hays Dentist Clair Wilson sawed limestone for Sheridan Coliseum during his first summer out of high school and made 30 cents an hour ⁵.

The sand for the project came from the creek that runs through campus. The brick was obtained from the state penitentiary at Lansing.

When completed, the building included a gymnasium, a small swimming pool, administrative offices and the campus radio station ⁶.

The facility cost approximately $125,000 to build. 

Sheridan Coliseum

When deciding what to name the new coliseum, it was suggested to call it Schlicher Coliseum in honor of Rep. Schlicher. Schlicher refused the proposal and instead suggested it be named after Civil War Officer General Phillip Sheridan, for whom Sheridan County was named ³ and so it became Sheridan Coliseum. Eventually, the building also received the nickname the “Fortress of the Plains” ¹.

Famous Performers

The Coliseum was the largest performance building in western Kansas and drew hundreds of performer including¹:

• Jane Fonda
• The National Ballet of Canada 
• Van Cliburn 
• The New York Philharmonic Orchestra
• The Vienna Boys Choir
• Harry Belafonte 

Sheridan Coliseum also hosted the first Grand Opera ever presented in Western Kansas⁶. 

FHSU alum Thaine Clark had many memories of Sheridan Coliseum. He said that when Harry Belafonte performed, he was not well known at the time, but “stole the show and the hearts of the audience”⁷. Later on in his career, Belafonte made a trip back to Hays and packed the coliseum.

Politicians also made appearances at Sheridan Coliseum. 

“George Lincoln Rockwell, the American Nazi, could not understand a crowd making no response to his haranguing speech,” Clark said ⁷. 

Sporting Events

In addition to concerts and performances, sporting events like wrestling and gymnastics were also hosted at Sheridan Coliseum. 

None of those events, however,  could compete with Tiger Basketball. With 2,000 permanent seats¹ and a capacity of 3,500⁹, games routinely sold out. 

People would stand in long lines to try and secure a seat. 

“It was known as the Snake Pit because the crowd set right on the edge of the playing surface,” former FHSU teacher and alum Gary Hulett said. 

Hulett has fond memories of basketball games in Sheridan Coliseum.

“Times have really changed because when we used to play Pittsburg State, the Pittsburg Gorillas, people used to throw bananas out onto the floor as an annoyance to the players,” Hulett said. 

Basketball was played in the coliseum from 1917 until the spring of 1973. 

Enrollment

Sheridan Coliseum was also the location for student enrollment. Before computers and online enrollment, all students had to go to the gymnasium floor in Sheridan to enroll in classes. 

Each department had a table and to enroll in a class, you had to pick up a class card from that table.  If the class was full, students had to visit the professor to get permission to join the class.

“There was a lot of running back and forth between the various academic buildings and Sheridan Hall to get enrolled,” Hulett said. “It was a nightmare.” 

Gross Memorial Coliseum and Cunningham Hall

When the Coliseum was built, the university only had 417 students. By 1970, well over 5,000 students were enrolled ¹⁰.

President M.C. Cunningham started the brainstorming process for Sheridan’s replacement and his successor, John W. Gustad, finished the process. Gustad, along with others, decided that the new facility should include two buildings. One building for indoor athletic events and another all-purpose learning and recreation facility. 

The result was Gross Memorial Coliseum and Cunningham Hall.

Gross Memorial Coliseum was named after former Fort Hays Basketball Coach and Athletic Director Paul B. Gross, and Cunningham Hall was named after President Cunningham. Construction was completed in 1973¹.

Sheridan Renovation 

After athletics were moved out of Sheridan, there were talks of demolishing the building. Students and alumni were upset with the idea of razing such a historic building. 

“Appalling as it sounds, the first thought of the engineers and architects was to condemn Sheridan to the wrecking ball,” alum Nita Landrum wrote¹¹.

President Gerald W. Tomanek was extremely opposed to demolishing the Coliseum. After lengthy discussions with legislative leaders, faculty, alumni and others, Tomanek decided to renovate Sheridan into a Performing Arts Center¹. Renovating the building was also considerably cheaper than building an entirely new facility¹³. 

In 1982, University officials asked for $4,012,000 in state funds for the renovation. Approval was granted by the legislature on the condition that the University raise $2,000,000 in private funds¹.

Fundraising Efforts

The fundraising kickoff occurred during homecoming in 1984. The first $1.25 million was raised easily and included a $75,000 donation from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation⁵. The remaining funds were much more difficult to obtain. 

Several fundraising methods were employed, including a dinner at Sheridan Coliseum⁵, multiple fundraising brochures and personal letters asking for support. 

A fundraising guide outlining strategies stated, “in fundraising, there is a ‘right’ way to ask”¹⁴. 

One brochure included a detailed list of potential designated gifts. These items included things like naming rights to the performing arts center and purchasing the orchestra pit.

“The amounts shown do not necessarily reflect actual costs as they are based upon their visibility and importance to the overall project,” the brochure noted ⁶. 

While the fundraising committee continued its efforts, there was sufficient funding to begin the renovation in 1987.  Funding slowed by the end of the year due to “an error in funding that took place in Topeka” as well as the lack of private funding¹. 

On April 11, 1990, Ross and Marianna Beach and Bob and Pat Schmidt gave President Edward Hammond a check for $750,000. The facility was named the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center. 

After funding was secured, the Legislature corrected the funding error and construction resumed. In total, the renovation cost more than $8 million ¹⁵.

The official rededication ceremony was on February 9, 1991 with Kansas Governor Joan Finney in attendance. 

In addition to the performing arts center, Sheridan also housed several administrative offices, including the University President, Provost, Registrar, and University Relations.

Name Change

University officials received permission from the Kansas Board of Regents to change the name of Sheridan Coliseum to Sheridan Hall in 1990¹.

Today

Since then, Director of Facilities Planning Dana Cunningham said there have been a variety of “micro-renovations.” 

“We’ve probably touched every office space in that building now, from the first level HR and

business office, to the second level, Student Affairs, and as to the third floor, President’s office, Vice President’s offices, Provost office, really,” Cunningham said. 

The Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center continues to host a variety of events. 

1. Lowen, Bob, “Sheridan Hall: Pamphlet, History of Sheridan Hall written by Bob Lowen, January 1991” (1991). Sheridan Hall. 24. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/24
2. Miller, Nancy Ellen, “Sheridan Coliseum: Paper, How Sheridan Coliseum Got Its Name, by Nancy Ellen Miller” (1947). Sheridan Hall. 42. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/42
3. Crawford, Clarita and Crawford, Don, “Sheridan Coliseum: Letter, to Ronald Pflughoft, from Clarita and Don Crawford, September 30, 1986” (1986). Sheridan Hall. 19. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/19
4. Salina Evening Journal, “Sheridan Coliseum: Newspaper, Sheridan Coliseum at Hays” (1916). Sheridan Hall. 36. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/36
5. Fort Hays State University, “Sheridan Coliseum: Newsletter, Fund drive update” (1905). Sheridan Hall. 20. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/20
6. Fort Hays State University, “Sheridan Coliseum description” (2016). Sheridan Hall. 43. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/43
7. Sheridan Coliseum Campaign Office, “Sheridan Coliseum: Brochure, Sheridan Coliseum Campaign” (1905). Sheridan Hall. 5.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/5
8. Clark, Thaine, “Sheridan Coliseum: Newsletter, Memories of Sheridan” (1985). Sheridan Hall. 38.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/38
9. Colby Free Press, “Sheridan Coliseum: Newspaper, Interesting Facts About Sheridan Coliseum” (1919). Sheridan Hall. 39. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/39
10. King, Rose Howard, “A Study to Predict 1963-1970 Enrollments at Fort Hays Kansas State College” (1963). Master’s Theses. 800. DOI: 10.58809/XPHZ1347 Available at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses/800
11. Landrum, Nita M., “Sheridan Coliseum: Letter, to various people, from Nita M. Landrum” (1985). Sheridan Hall. 34.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/34
12. Sheridan Coliseum Campaign Office, “Sheridan Coliseum: Brochure, Q & A: Fort Hays State University
13. $2,000,000 Sheridan Coliseum Campaign” (1905). Sheridan Hall. 3.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/3
14. Fort Hays State University, “Sheridan Coliseum: Brochure, Suggestions for volunteer committeemen” (1984). Sheridan Hall. 7. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/7
15. Lowen, Bob, “Sheridan Hall: Pamphlet, History of Sheridan Hall written by Bob Lowen, January 1993” (1993). Sheridan Hall. 25.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sheridan/25

Photos from Lyman Dwight Wooster Photograph Collection, University Archives Photographs Collection and Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center Facebook Page.