History of the O'Keefe Complex & Gassett Fitness Center
Salem State as a school has been around for a very long time. The institution dated way back to 1854. The school began in its infancy as the Salem Normal School. In 1932, it then became known as the Salem Teachers College and had extended its curriculum to four years. Changing names again, in 1968, it was renamed to Salem State College. It wasn't until recently however, that it became known to most as Salem State University. Along the years from the 60's thereafter, came the construction of many different buildings that make up the campuses we have today.
Among those buildings came the O'Keefe center utilized for athletic purposes. Salem State had planned to expand it's campus in the 1970's by including things such as the library, South Campus, and the O'Keefe Center. The O'Keefe Center over the years improved but at the same time it was far from adequate and did not provide enough for the needs of students. It contained a gymnasium, an ice rink for hockey, a basketball center, and swimming pools. Many people complained that it was much too crowded, especially for the use of college students. "Not enough stuff, not enough space"; "It's too small, overcrowded" complained a couple students. As a popular facility, it was too small to contain people leading people to be cramped up to each other. To fix this issue, the officials of the school came to the conclusion to add another piece of area to the facility. It would be about 48,000 sq. ft. and would become known as the Gassett Fitness and Recreation Center. This new piece to the facility would allow for much more space to include more workout equipment. It would also include 2 basketball courts, studio space for dancing and yoga etc, batting cage, lounge space, and brand new locker rooms. The addition of the Gassett Center will allow for up to 1,000 people as well. Renovating the the fitness area is even a great way to recruit other people as players and students from different schools would often ask how the gym is.
The Gassett Fitness Center was named after Harold and Marilyn Gassett, who were the parents of the Kim Gassett-Schiller, a Salem State graduate in the year 1983. Kim helped finance the facility by donating $1 million along with her husband and family. The O'Keefe Complex itself on the other hand was named after Richard B. O'Keefe in 1977. He served on Salem State's board of trustees in the 70's and "dedicated his life to helping others."
Works Cited:
Among those buildings came the O'Keefe center utilized for athletic purposes. Salem State had planned to expand it's campus in the 1970's by including things such as the library, South Campus, and the O'Keefe Center. The O'Keefe Center over the years improved but at the same time it was far from adequate and did not provide enough for the needs of students. It contained a gymnasium, an ice rink for hockey, a basketball center, and swimming pools. Many people complained that it was much too crowded, especially for the use of college students. "Not enough stuff, not enough space"; "It's too small, overcrowded" complained a couple students. As a popular facility, it was too small to contain people leading people to be cramped up to each other. To fix this issue, the officials of the school came to the conclusion to add another piece of area to the facility. It would be about 48,000 sq. ft. and would become known as the Gassett Fitness and Recreation Center. This new piece to the facility would allow for much more space to include more workout equipment. It would also include 2 basketball courts, studio space for dancing and yoga etc, batting cage, lounge space, and brand new locker rooms. The addition of the Gassett Center will allow for up to 1,000 people as well. Renovating the the fitness area is even a great way to recruit other people as players and students from different schools would often ask how the gym is.
The Gassett Fitness Center was named after Harold and Marilyn Gassett, who were the parents of the Kim Gassett-Schiller, a Salem State graduate in the year 1983. Kim helped finance the facility by donating $1 million along with her husband and family. The O'Keefe Complex itself on the other hand was named after Richard B. O'Keefe in 1977. He served on Salem State's board of trustees in the 70's and "dedicated his life to helping others."
Works Cited:
- "Salem State University Fitness and Recreation Center." - BuroHappold Engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
- Mooney, Ryan. "Salem State Breaks Ground on New Fitness Center." Boston.com. The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
- "Ricciardiello Atrium Dedicated at Gassett Fitness Center - Salem State."Salem State. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Salem State in October
In the month of October during my first year here at Salem State, there were a lot of things going on that was promoting the day of Halloween. The city of Salem is known for it's deep history and well known by most for the Witch Trials a long time ago so it would make sense for there to be a ton of events going on during October and Halloween. Living in Massachusetts and Swampscott, which is relatively close to Salem, I’ve always known about the craziness of Salem during Halloween. I’ve actually never been to Salem during Halloween however. This year, I wanted to make it a goal of mine to visit downtown Salem at least once during Halloween in my years at Salem State. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it to downtown Salem during Halloween. As a commuter, it’s kinda tough to get to places and go to events, especially during this month of October. Halloween in Salem is known for being extremely hectic with tons of people and traffic so driving to Salem on Halloween night was out of the question and since I didn’t have a ride anyways, I was not able to make it this year. Although Halloween night isn’t the only night to enjoy the Halloween spirit at Salem. There were some events that were held throughout the month to promote the annual holiday. Among such events was the very popular Haunted Happenings in which you would march in a parade with hundreds of people. I myself didn’t go but I would like to attend it next year to see how fun it is. I would also occasionally see people in some funny and cool costumes at Salem State and especially during Halloween which was pretty interesting to see. All in all, even though I didn’t do much this Halloween season, I had to blame myself for that as I probably should’ve put more effort into going to these things. Next year, I will definitely try and go to some of these events and go to downtown Salem during Halloween for sure.