The University of Texas at Austin

Even 6’2” Center Director Terry Todd looks small compared to the massive McComb North End Zone Building which houses the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports. The Center is on the second level of the building, located on 23rd Street on the University of Texas campus.

 

 

News/Announcements

 

 

 

 

  • Terry Todd inducted into Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches' Hall of Honor.

Latest News from :
The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports
The Department of Kinesiology & Health Education
The College of Education

WE’VE MOVED!

As of Thursday, June 11th, 99% of our books, magazines, journals, correspondence, videotapes, audiotapes, films, photos, posters, training courses, bookcases, filing cabinets, desks, paintings, bronzes, and other artifacts have been moved from their former home in nine rooms (some large, some small) in Anna Hiss Gym to their new home, where they—and we, their caretakers—will finally have room to breathe.  It was a major challenge, and a number of us (staff and students) have spent the past six months or so packing in preparation.  However,  it is very comforting to have the materials all together, safe and secure at last. It took a crew of 30 men—plus about ten of us—using six large trucks over two and a half days to make the actual move, even though all the books, mags, and other items were already either packed into approximately 1500 boxes or loaded onto over 70 rolling book-carts 5’ long, 4’ high, with four shelves on each side, which we shrink-wrapped after packing them so the books wouldn’t fall out.  Altogether, 28 truckloads made the trip from Anna Hiss to the north end of the football stadium.

 

Naturally, it will take us a long while to get everything unpacked and properly placed on shelves, in cases, on walls, or in files, but we hope to do all that and in the meantime also work on the uncompleted parts of the Stark Center—the museum and the galleries—which constitute approximately 2/5 of the facility.  The other 3/5 of the facility was completed on June 14th when the final touches to our floor were applied.  By the end of next week our staff: Jan; me; Kim Beckwith—a Kinesiology faculty member and longtime helper in the Todd-McLean Collection; Cindy Slater—our new head librarian; Thomas Hunt—a new assistant professor in Kinesiology who’s also assisting with the Center’s research and publishing endeavors; Geoff Schmalz—an archivist/librarian;  Stacy Metzler—our office manager; and graduate assistants Matt Bowers, and Peter Ullman—will be in our offices, and our public reading room will be ready to accept the statues, furniture, bookcases, rugs, magazine shelving, computer terminals, and library tables which are either coming or already on site. 

 

Our goal is to have the library functional by the time the fall semester begins and to have the museum and galleries completed—with all displays in place—by late in the fall, although this will depend on several things over which we have no control.  Our website will continue to provide updates as to when we will officially open to visitors so that any ironmongers and fans of sports and physical culture who want to come to Austin  will know when we will officially open. 

 

This move has been a long time coming but we’re almost there.  Through the years we’ve had a great deal of help from a great many people, for which we’re very grateful.  Finally, I’d like to especially thank the Stark Center staff for the long hard hours they spent these past weeks as we made the final push to move into our new home. 

 

Terry and Jan Todd

Construction Update, May 1, 2009

We are pleased to report that construction on The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports is proceeding on schedule and we will be able to begin moving into our new 27,500 square foot facility no later than June 1, 2009.  As can be seen in the new construction photos we posted today, our contractors, the Browning Construction Company, have now nearly finished the library portion of the Center, and the staff offices, information desk, archival areas, kitchen, lobby, public reading room, conference room, art gallery, reception area, and a photo gallery are in the final stages of completion.  All of the drywall work and most of the painting is now done in this first phase of construction and the glass walls in the reading room, conference room and rare book research room are installed. The installation of the decorative wooden ceilings in the reading room and conference room still remain to be completed and, of course, our concrete floors still need to be stained and polished. Obviously, as you can see, there is still trim work and other finishing touches to be added, but we have been promised that this first phase of construction will be done by late May.

         

At that time we will begin moving the large collection we’ve accumulated over the years.  Because our collections include books, magazines, letters, photographs, memorabilia, and artifacts such as equipment and art--and because we’ve been collecting in the fields of both physical culture and sports for many years--the mover who will be helping us make this transition has estimated that the print material alone will require approximately 2500 boxes.  Because of the scope of this move, and the need to have our collections properly organized before opening to researchers, the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center will, therefore, not be open to the public for normal business during the summer of 2009.


As we’re getting the library aspect of the facility organized and unpacked, we will simultaneously be working on the second, and final, phase of construction. This phase is the construction and installation of the exhibits in our two gallery areas--the Joe and Betty Weider Museum of Physical Culture and the Sports Gallery.  To help us with these exhibits we’ve hired Chris Frison of the Douglas Group in Houston, Texas.  The Douglas Group is one of the top museum and exhibit design firms in the country and we are very happy to have Chris on our team.


We would also like to thank Rachel Scheer and Matt Taylor of the Lauck Group for their outstanding work on the architectural and interior design of this project.  What’s more, we would especially like to express our deep gratitude to Jim Shackelford, our project supervisor with the University of Texas, who has been an exemplary liason between our staff and the various groups involved in the construction of the Stark Center.


Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Kim Beckwith--our faculty colleague and longtime partner in our library--and UT graduate students Beth Stevens, Scott Jedlicka, Matt Bowers, and Peter Ullmann, who have worked tirelessly during this past year to help make the new H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports a reality.  Under Kim’s supervision, Beth and Scott organized more than 150 additional University of Texas student volunteers this spring semester who helped us pack the Stark Center collections. Matt and Peter, meanwhile, have been working on video interviews for a website and museum display--sponsored by the National Strength and Conditioning Association--about the history of strength and conditioning.


Other News: Welcome Cindy Slater!

After an extensive search for a professional librarian to join us at the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center, we are pleased to announce that Cindy Slater, who directed the USOC Library in Colorado Springs for more than 20 years, is joining our team and will serve as head librarian at the Center. Cindy was also a founding member of the North American Sport Library Information Network, and her knowledge of the world of sports, sports medicine, and sports libraries makes her an excellent fit for our vision for the Centers’ future.  She is also a longtime exercise buff and an avid golfer.


The funding to support Cindy’s hiring came from the family of the late Edmund Hoffman of Dallas, whose 1600-volume collection of golf books was donated to the Stark Center in 2007.  One of Cindy’s primary responsibilities will be to oversee the preservation and use of the Hoffman Collection along with the related and exceptional collections of golfing icon Ben Crenshaw and his longtime friend and business manager Scott Sayers.

 

Please read the Director’s Message for full details about the new facility.