The Hyslop Sports Center’s past, present and future

In 1951, life on campus was changing fast.

The post-war years had brought a boom in enrollment and academic offerings at UND.

The institution had to grow to adapt, and the North Dakota Legislature answered the call – doubling the University’s biennial operating budget during the 1947 session.

“The combination of a booming agricultural economy, an almost 20-year backlog in building needs, and the skyrocketing student enrollment led to an unprecedented construction campaign at UND,” recalled a 1999 architectural survey on behalf of the University.

State appropriations at the time gave rise to a new medical building, O’Kelly Hall; more veteran’s housing on campus; and a combination gymnasium and fieldhouse.

The latter facility is our subject today.

For 70 years, the Hyslop Sports Center – as it has been called since 1981 – has hosted champions, presidents, rock stars, powwows and other events too many to count. The second-largest building in North Dakota at the time of its completion, Hyslop has been the cornerstone of UND Athletics, housing offices, services and facilities key to UND’s sports teams as well as student-athletes’ academic success.

But just as campus transformed all those decades ago, from the 50’s through the 60’s, UND’s developments prior to and into the 2020s are bringing about the sunset of one of the University’s best-known buildings.

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Read the full story at UND Today for details on the project timeline for Hyslop’s demolition; the Master Plan for campus; and everything new in store for UND.