A time capsule celebrating the history of IU Northwest’s first building will be opened at a celebratory event in remembrance of Tamarack Hall on Thursday, May 10.

The 12:30 p.m. reception will be followed by a ceremony at 1 p.m. in the Moraine Student Center.

Special guest, Dr. John C. Buhner, will be in attendance. Buhner, the former Gary Center Director and former IU Northwest Dean and Acting Chancellor was present at the 1958 setting of the Tamarack Hall cornerstone.

Tamarack Hall, the campus’s first building, is currently being demolished. The building officially closed in September 2008 as a result extensive flooding damage.

Tamarack Hall opened in 1959 and was IU Northwest’s only building during the campus’s first 10 years. Tamarack was, at one time, home to the campus library and cafeteria, and it continued to house classrooms and faculty and administrative offices until its closure.

The building was best known for its spacious and ornate Tamarack Hall Theatre, which served as a regional center for art, theater, music, and educational seminars and discussions. One of the most noteworthy events in recent years was an MLK Day Celebration in January 2008 that featured guest speaker Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Tamarack Hall Theatre was also home to Theatre Northwest, with its first performance in 1961. At its origination, Theatre Northwest was the only such performing arts venue and program out of all the IU regional campuses.

The area where Tamarack Hall was located will serve as campus green space. Work on the green space will begin this summer, and is projected to be open with the start of the Fall 2012 semester. The green space will add additional lighting and sidewalks to the IU Northwest campus.

In 2011, Indiana University proposed to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education a revised plan for the replacement of Tamarack Hall. This plan calls for the construction, in collaboration with Ivy Tech Community College – Northwest's Gary campus, of a 106,065 assignable square–foot partnership building, to be located on the east side of Broadway at 35th Avenue. The ICHE has not yet voted on the proposal.

The time capsule celebration will take place in the Moraine Student Center located on the north end of the IU Northwest campus in Gary.

Attendees are asked to R.S.V.P. to Delores Crawford at (219) 980-6800 or [[decrawfo]].