Butler University is just about to unveil it’s newly renovated historic Hinkle Fieldhouse coinciding with the 2014 -2015 Basketball Season. Connor Fine Painting is proud to be a sponsor of Butler Basketball and a part of the history at Hinkle.
Over the years, Connor Fine Painting’s commercial painting team has repainted much of the fieldhouse including:
- The Efromson Gym
- Locker rooms
- Athletic office
- Adjacent goal posts in the Butler Bowl
A few years back, I found my dad and uncle’s 1939 and 1940 football team photo’s in a Fieldhouse store room for safe keeping. It brought back memories of my early connection with Butler and reminded me of what a privilege it has been to stay connected. And to have witnessed so much Indiana Basketball History.
Some of my earliest memories are of Tony Hinkle leading the bulldogs to victory over many big name programs. Players like Jeff Blue, Larry Shade and Ron Salatich filled my young mind with dreams of playing on the fieldhouse floor in front of sold out crowds.
In 1954, Bobby Plump and the Milan Indians became the Indiana High School State basketball Champions in this very building. 30 years later, the movie Hoosiers chose Hinkle as the location to replicate Bobby’s famous “Last Shot.” The fictional Jimmy Chitwood would take it from nearly the exact spot on the floor to win the game. During the preview tour of the newly renovated fieldhouse, I was privileged to get a photo of Bobby standing in front of a younger version of himself.
It’s been fun to stay connected to the fieldhouse over the years through the work we’ve done to freshen up – to keep the facility that houses all these collective memories – sparkling and fresh.
It feels fitting to have been asked to paint the sign which will welcome Bulldog fans, old and new, to Hinkle well into the future.
