History of Fleming Hall

The University Museum is housed in historic Fleming Hall. Built between 1916 and 1917 for $25,000, Fleming Hall served as the New Mexico Normal School’s gymnasium, when the “best” all-around athletic sport was considered to be basketball. The fourth floor of the building offered a balcony to watch games and a 360-degree view of the surrounding area. The second floor featured four science classrooms, while locker rooms were located on the first floor.

As the sports program outgrew the building, the top two floors were converted to serve as the University’s library. In 1958, the building was once again repurposed to house Expressive Arts with music classes on the upper floors and art classrooms on the lower floors. In November 1974, Fleming Hall opened its doors as the University Museum.

The building is the third oldest on campus. The recently renovated building highlights an intact truss-beamed ceiling soaring to a height of three stories, remnants of the original short basketball markings on the gymnasium-grade maple flooring, the original oak-floored spectator gallery mezzanine, and the restored 1917 tiered Science Classroom. Fleming Hall is on the State of New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties, in the Western New Mexico University Historic District, and eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Thank you, New Mexicans, for supporting the 2016 Higher Education GO Bond that funded the stunning transformation of Fleming Hall. The result is an open, light, secure and climate-controlled environment that enhances the visitor experience.

WNMU and Conron and Woods Architects (Santa Fe, NM) received the New Mexico Heritage Preservation Award for Fleming Hall in May 2019.