Memorial Hall Gym, 1939.
Memorial Hall, the fifth oldest building on the Bemidji State Campus, was built in 1940. Upon it’s opening, the building was named the Gymnasium Memorial Hall with the purpose of providing a physical education building to students, staff and faculty. The hall was originally going to include an addition gym and pool but there was not enough funding to complete the project. In addition to the gym facility, Memorial also housed the Industrial Arts Department that included three work shops, a tool room, instructors office and a store room. There was once a banner that held a gold star for every student who died while serving in the military and a blue star for every student on active duty.
The Hall was dedicated circa Nov. 1959 to the following four categories of people:
- Students Killed in Military Service
- Long time faculty members who are deceased
- Former resident directors and presidents
- Others who may have made significant contributions to the college
Renovations were completed in the summer of 2015 and has been designed to meet LEED certification, using 20 percent less energy and 40 percent less water than conventional buildings. Memorial Hall is home to the faculty, department and program offices for Accounting, Business Administration, Computer Information Systems, Management Information Systems and Marketing Communication; computer lab; Office of the Dean, College of Business, Technology and Communication.