Photo provided Columbus Fire Department aerial fire engines were used to put out a fire that destroyed the old Hope gym in 2022.
HOPE – What was once a major hub of activity in northeast Bartholomew County will soon disappear into history.
Efforts are underway to tear down and remove the scorched remains of the old Hope High School gym at 543 Washington St., Community Center of Hope board president Jeff Yarnell said. The center has owned the gym property for several years.
The total cost of removal is estimated at $123,875, Yarnell said.
The center is seeking $50,000 through a T-Mobile Hometown matching grant program, which was specifically created to assist small towns like Hope revitalize community spaces, according on the program’s website. T-Mobile works in partnership with Main Street America and Smart Growth America in administering the program, the website states.
While only 100 towns will be selected from second quarter applicants to receive matching grants, Main Street communities such as Hope are encouraged to apply, the website states.
Applicants will learn of their acceptance or denial in mid-to-late August. But grants are awarded quarterly, so the center can always reapply if denied funds this summer.
One other advantage for Hope that most small towns don’t have is an anonymous donor willing to provide $20,000 to match the grant, Yarnell said. If the center receives the grant, the donation would provide the center about $2,500 more than what is needed, he said.
“We have funds to move around and make it happen on our own,” Yarnell said. “We would probably do a couple of financial drives and try not to spend that much, but we can make it happen without the grant.”
The demolition will be carried out in two phases. Money being sought at this time is for the first phase that involves the removal of the structure above the ground only, Yarnell said.
The second phase calls for removal of the concrete basement and adding back fill, final grade and seed to be ready for new construction, he said. The center plans to use another grant opportunity to raise the $60,125 necessary for the final phase.
Although final plans have not been made, Yarnell said board members would like to use the vacant lot to create a play area for school children. Other proposals include building a new police station on the land.
The gym was constructed in 1938 as a project of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration. Before the facility was built, the Hope High School Red Devils played basketball in Petersville or Taylorsville. There are different estimates about how many people the old gym could accommodate, ranging from 800 to 1,200.
Basketball was the major sport in Hope in the 1940s and 1950s, so the gym was filled with Red Devils fans during home games. A range of performing arts were staged on the north end of the building.
While small town schools may be dismissed in larger communities, Hope High School was ahead of its time in one sense. In the late 1940s and early ’50s, the predominantly-black Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis was having difficulty convincing teams from predominantly-white schools to play them.
But Red Devils coach Joe Foust was happy to have his team host the Crispus Attucks Tigers twice. In December 1949, the Indianapolis team beat the Red Devils 58-33. One year later, Hope lost again to the Tigers 75-23.
In early 1957, Hope High School consolidated with Clifford. A new high school called Hauser was formed just in time for the 1957-58 school year. Hauser played its games at the old Hope gym until it opened its current 1,573-seat gym in 1966.
Eventually acquired by the Community Center of Hope, the old gym was still utilized for volleyball, league basketball, fundraisers and special events. Unfortunately, deterioration eventually left the building with mold, a leaky roof, peeling paint and outdated windows.
In 2017, a fundraising effort for the gym feel short and the facility continued to sit unused.
On April 27, 2022, firefighters from as far away as Columbus headed to the old gym after fire broke out. The near collapse of the roof, as well as substantial water damage, made it nearly impossible to make a final determination regarding the cause.
A few weeks later, fire broke out a second time. Investigators said it was likely arson.
The old Hope gym is not only a symbol of “what was,” but also of “what could have been.”
In 1985, the old Hope gym was considered by the producers of the film “Hoosiers” to portray the home of the fictional Hickory Huskers. Screenwriter Angelo Pizzo’s story was loosely based on the 1954 Milan team.
But in the mid-‘80s, studio executives feared the film would bomb.
As a result, “Hoosiers” was confined to a tight $6 million budget, leaving no money to fix up old gymnasiums like the one in Hope. The Knightstown gym in Henry County was eventually chosen.
