In the Fall of 1916, the Eau Claire State Normal School was established for the education of teachers and principles. What started as a one-building college slowly expanded to meet student needs and interests for educational and recreational purposes. It was not until almost forty years after its founding that the campus constructed a fieldhouse.
With the groundwork starting in 1950, the fieldhouse became the second major building created on the Eau Claire campus. Initially the fieldhouse was used for athletic events, specifically men’s basketball under the direction of George Simpson. In 1970 the university established its first women’s basketball team under the leadership of Sandy Schumacher.
Native American Honoring Education Powwow, 1983
In 1969 the name of the fieldhouse changed to the University Arena. This change was implemented to reflect the building’s purpose since the physical education classes were moving to the upper campus at the Eugene R. McPhee Physical Education building. The university arena was not just used for basketball tournaments and intercollegiate competitions but also student functions, special lectures, concerts, and community events. Every semester students would race into the building to register for upcoming classes, weaving between tables in the hope of getting into their desired classes. If the classes were full before the students got their chance then it was a scramble to find an open alternative within their allotted time. The forum and artists series are events that both students and community members attend regularly. The forum series, for example, were where experts on various subjects were invited to speak on campus to the students and community. These events focused on domestic and foreign social, cultural, political, and economic issues of the time. For example, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. visited the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire in 1962. Martin Luther King Jr. discussed segregation, integration, discrimination, and human rights.
Less than twenty years later the name of the arena changed once again. It was renamed Zorn Arena in honor of the university’s former basketball and football coach and Dean of Men, Willis L. “Bill” Zorn. Bill Zorn coached football for fifteen years and basketball for forty years from 1928 to 1968. From the late 1980s to the present Zorn Arena has been the center of campus and community life, through the joys and troubles. This is seen in the university’s dedication towards student and community health. Zorn Arena has had the privilege and honor of being the location of annual blood drives for the state. On the other hand, a negative experience can be clearly seen during a current event that impacted Zorn Arena and society as a whole - the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19. In response to this pandemic Zorn Arena was transformed into a testing and vaccination center for the community.
Though Zorn Arena is no longer be the center of student activity and events, it's significance and legacy will long remain standing in the Eau Claire community.
