The IM West recreation center has been a staple on Michigan State’s campus since it was built in 1959. The 66 year-old building, located adjacent to Spartan Stadium, has been a place for both athletes and students alike to get away from the stresses of sports and school.
The two-story facility hosts basketball courts, turf fields, an indoor pool and classrooms. It was the second-ever university recreational building in the U.S., behind Purdue’s.
But IM West's days are numbered. Demolition has been set for spring 2027, due to the expenses of keeping it up-to-date. Its replacement has already broken ground across from the Breslin Center.
IM West coordinator Dujuan Wiley, a former MSU basketball player, would come to the gym to get away from the stress of organized basketball. From the minute he stepped foot on campus to now, he has been enamored with the IM West.
“When I first took a visit here I came over to the IM West and just played at an open gym, it was so much fun,” Wiley said. “Then as a student, it was always fun to come here to get away from the Breslin.”
The IM West has been a stomping ground for some of the most notable athletes to grace campus. Alumni like Jaren Jackson Jr, Kirk Cousins, and Steve Garvey have all been known to spend their free time at 393 Chestnut Rd.
Women’s basketball and women's volleyball were two of the main organized sports that found a home at IM West before the advent of Title IX. These programs, including swimming and diving and wrestling, have faced their own challenges in being fairly represented on campus at different points in time. But IM West has always kept its doors open.
“In about the early 80s, women’s basketball moved to Jenison while women’s volleyball played here until about the 1990s,” said IM West associate director Joel Eddy. “Up until the 1990s wrestling competed in this building. We almost had over 100 seasons of men’s swimming before the program was cut in 2021.”
The outdoor pool has since been turned into a parking lot outside of the building, but the rich history of the space keeps its memory alive. Right after it was constructed, the area hosted 1959 Pan-American Games trials.
Students of all majors, not just athletes, can find a home in the multiple classrooms that the IM hosts. Many subjects, from French to Kinesiology, can be seen being studied inside the walls of the IM West.
The facility also hosts an organization called Odyssey of the Mind, where grade school scientists come together for a science fair. Outside of Michigan State athletic events, IM West stays busy in holding local AAU tournaments and the Area 8 Special Olympics.
“We also host water polo and diving events, we have student organizations here every weekend,” Wiley said. “We host the volleyball hardwood classic. The building is usually rocking, especially in the winter months where people can’t get outside.”
Even ghosts can find a home at IM West, allegedly. While there are no confirmed spooky stories, jokes have gone around between the staff of haunting instances.
“I was in here about 10 years ago by myself at night and my office sits right above the racquetball court,” Eddy said. “Sometimes you can hear the noise, and all of a sudden I hear the sound of a racquetball against the wall. So I walked down to check it out because nobody was supposed to be in the building and there was no one there.”
There have been conversations about moving some pieces of history to the new IM, including an old fashioned, cast iron speed bag located in the basement of IM West.
“When this building was constructed, that bag was moved over here from Jenison,” Eddy said. “MSU used to have a varsity boxing team that would use it to train. We will have that thing hung up on display in the new building.”
New upgrades like air conditioning and state-of-the-art activity spaces will ease the transition for students that have grown accustomed to IM West. Even so, the sentimentality from alumni will keep the building alive in the memories of multiple generations of Spartans.
“A lot of the students that come here now, their grandparents were in school in the 60s, and this is something that they have in common if they went to Michigan State,” Eddy said. “It’s a part of Michigan State history, there is a lot of nostalgia in that.”