Hyslop demolition is now underway
Look back with us at the beloved building’s legacy, and ahead to the site’s extraordinary future
On a drizzly Tuesday morning, the first blow landed as a hydraulic excavator bit into the side of the Hyslop Sports Center at UND. As chunks of concrete tumbled to the pavement below — and the building was opened to the rain — each crunch and thud served as a punctuation mark of sorts, closing a vital, seven-decade-long chapter in the University’s history.
On Aug. 5, the long-anticipated demolition of Hyslop began after asbestos abatement was completed earlier this spring. But the demolition marks not just another construction project on UND’s ever-evolving campus. It also represented a final farewell to a building that hosted countless life-shaping experiences, according to Cierra Roebuck Hangsleben, a former UND athlete and athletic operations staff member, who spoke at an “Honoring Hyslop: UND Fan Luncheon” in November 2024.
“There are many people who helped shape the Hyslop, and in the end, the Hyslop shaped us into the people we are today,” said Roebuck Hangsleben at the event.
A building’s legacy
Built amid a postwar enrollment boom in 1951, the building — then known simply as the Fieldhouse — quickly became a cornerstone of UND life. When it opened, it was the second-largest building in North Dakota, a symbol of a University on the rise.
For decades, the Fieldhouse was home to UND basketball, volleyball, track and field, swimming and countless other sports. It also served as a cultural gathering place, welcoming the public for everything from youth swim lessons to annual Indigenous powwows that filled the space with the event’s characteristic song, dance and color. In addition to UND-sponsored events, several United States presidents also visited Hyslop. John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan all visited Hyslop, with Kennedy receiving an honorary degree during his visit.
In 1981, the facility was renamed the Hyslop Sports Center in honor of former UND basketball player and benefactor W. Kenneth Hyslop. And since its construction, it has been a hub for events that offered many defining experiences on UND’s campus — from the roar of basketball crowds to the tearful goodbyes of commencement, and even concerts by major acts such as John Mellencamp and Metallica — the Hyslop offered students and community members unforgettable moments in their lives.
The Hyslop’s unique ability to bring UND and the Greater Grand Forks community together cemented it as a centerpiece, not just for UND but for Grand Forks and the region at large. But, despite the demolition marking the end of Hyslop, the event promises to give way to another exciting addition to campus.
A promising future
In the Hyslop’s place, a 179,000-square-foot STEM Complex will begin construction later this fall. Designed to promote interdisciplinary learning, the new facility will house lecture halls, collaborative research spaces, a robotics team work area and an eSports arena.
Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Physics all will have homes in the building, a joint hosting that’s meant to promote cross-disciplinary research.
Additionally, two skyways linking the STEM Complex to Abbott and Leonard halls are scheduled for construction, giving students, staff and faculty safe and easy ways to traverse campus in unpredictable North Dakota winters.
If construction stays on track, UND students, faculty and staff can expect to move into the building in summer of 2027, just in time for that year’s fall semester.
One campus hub to the next
According to the project schedule, demolition of the Hyslop will wrap up by Oct. 30, when the last of its debris will be hauled off campus. Crews then will prepare the site for foundation work and the steel framing of the STEM Complex, construction of which is expected to begin in November 2025.
As the campus community looks ahead to the completion of the STEM Complex, the excavator’s recent work marks not only a farewell to one of campus’s most remarkable and beloved buildings, but also the excitement and anticipation of watching another cutting-edge facility take shape on the UND campus.
