In late 1918, news began to circulate in the community that the IWU Board of Trustees was considering a move to Springfield, Illinois. Faced with the need for more space and more modern facilities, the board formed a site committee to investigate the potential move.

After nearly 70 years of supporting IWU, area alumni and friends of the university did not want to see their efforts squandered. They formed the McLean County Wesleyan Association and advocated to keep the school in Bloomington. Their enthusiasm and fundraising ability, raising $660,000, or more than $12 million in today’s dollars, convinced the board that IWU should stay in Bloomington.

The Board of Trustees and IWU administration immediately put these new funds to work, hiring architect A. L. Pillsbury, a Bloomington native, to design a campus expansion plan. That plan resulted in three new buildings: Memorial Gymnasium (now Hansen Student Center), Buck Memorial Library, and Presser Hall.

The Great Depression interrupted the full realization of the Pillsbury Plan. Still, the university emerged from the 1919 threat in a better financial position with the facilities necessary to continue to serve and attract students — all thanks to community members who rose up in a time of need.

Text adapted from Pantagraph article written by University Archivist Liz Bloodworth.