VANISHING HARDWOODS will appeal not only to the basketball fan, but to history buffs who have interests in heartland America. I wish I had time to travel throughout rural country sides to discover for myself some of the vintage gyms that flourished during the golden age of basketball. In the early days on the western prairies, basketball was king. All you needed in a small school was five kids, a floor and two hoops. Today, it's hard to find the same type of enthusiasm as those teams of yesterday. The author captures that spirit; thus, this book must be a definite read. George Karl, Denver Nuggets

Vanishing Hardwoods in Rural America

By Myron Finkbeiner

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Myron Finkbeiner
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-5099-3

Contents

Foreword............................................................................................viiIntroduction........................................................................................xi1. Some Old High School Gyms Find New Life - Indiana...............................................12. Ahead of its time - Nampa, Idaho................................................................73. John Wooden and the World's Largest High School Gym - Martinsville, Indiana.....................154. Panthers' Pride - Augusta, Kentucky.............................................................215. Home Of a Ghost - Oxford, Kansas................................................................276. Bedlam in a Bandbox - Flagler, Colorado.........................................................317. The Old Barn - Welch, Oklahoma..................................................................378. Welcome to the Old West - Monument, Oregon......................................................439. The Tale of Two Gyms - Wheatland & Forrest, New Mexico..........................................5110. The Little Town That Could - Weskan, Kansas.....................................................5911. A Small Town, a Tiny Gym, and a Hero - Geddes, South Dakota.....................................6512. Hoosiers, It's Not - Brooklyn, Washington.......................................................7113. Improbable Heroes - Bellfountain, Oregon........................................................7914. Hardwood Glory,'60s Style - Wishek, North Dakota................................................8715. Terry Teagle's Landmark - Broaddus, Texas.......................................................9516. A Changing Landscape On the Hi-Line - Chester, Montana..........................................10117. Bearden's Bears Den is Mighty Cozy - Bearden, Oklahoma..........................................10918. Round Ball in a Round Gym - New Providence, Iowa................................................11319. They Played in Dirt Before They Played On Wood - Farwell, Nebraska..............................11920. Big Dreams Are Realized In Small Towns - Alamo, Nevada..........................................12721. Hoosier Madness - Cannelton, Indiana1...........................................................137Acknowledgements....................................................................................143Epilogue............................................................................................145Contributors' Biographies...........................................................................149Notes...............................................................................................153

Chapter One

SOME OLD HIGH SCHOOL GYMS FIND NEW LIFE IN INDIANA

"In my research for this book, a common thread prevailed throughout ... the demise of rural schools and gyms due to consolidation, and their subsequent survival from the wrecking ball which are being provided by proactive communities. Kyle Neddenriep did a piece for the Indystar.com that overviews the decline and survival of these historical gymnasiums in the state of Indiana. The article provides examples of communities that have been hard hit by consolidation and what some concerned citizens are doing to keep the vintage gyms from biting the dust. I placed the article at the beginning of the book as it will serve as a framework and foundation for the remaining chapters."

The high, dusty windows throw light into the darkness of the sleepy Wayne County community of Economy. Outside the white, barnlike structure, a familiar sound cuts through the bitterly cold night: the pounding thud, thud, thud of a basketball against hardwood floor.

Stand there a minute, shoes covered in snow, and imagine what's inside. There would be the student cheer block; farmers in overalls lining the perimeter of the court; young men and women sitting on planks above the bleachers, eating popcorn and hurling insults at referees.

Once the heartbeat of a community, the Economy gym now stands empty except for Wednesday nights like this, when community members do their best to bring it back to life.

Look hard enough and you can still find these old gyms, remnants of a bygone and uniquely Hoosier era. They were home to the Ladoga Canners, the Mecca Arabs, the Pinnell Purple Dragons, the Bridgeton Raccoons, and the Stilesville Tigers. Now they are elementary schools, community centers, fire stations, private businesses, churches, libraries. Some, like the one in Sandusky, are homes. Others, sadly, are embarrassing eyesores.

The stories they could tell. Built mostly from the 1920s to the 1950s, before the antiseptic, multipurpose "athletic facilities" of today, each had its own unique feature, such as the crow's-nest scorer's table in Bloomfield, the out-of-bounds walls in Mecca (it wasn't long enough for end lines) and the wrap-around balcony in Harrisburg.

Most had this in common: They were packed for every game.

"That's why these gyms mean so much to people," said Phyllis Beers, a 1954 graduate of Green Fork High School, where the gym is now used to park fire trucks. "Going to basketball games was the thing to do. People have a fondness for those days."

Look hard enough and you can still find these hidden gems. But don't wait too long.

It has been 50 years since the School Corporation Reorganization Act caused sweeping consolidation of school districts across the state. In 1959, there were 724 basketball-playing high schools. This year, there are 402.

Once the students left, there was no more reason to keep many of the gyms. Others were razed in the name of progress, or finances. More are on the chopping block. The Rush County towns of Arlington, whose gym dates to 1939, and Milroy (1928) are building new elementary schools, and the current schools and adjoining gyms could be demolished.

"It's sad," said Prescilla Winkler, a 1955 Arlington graduate. "But it would be difficult to keep the gym financially."

Some have survived because it would have cost too much to tear them down and build new ones. New Market kept its gym, built in 1957, after the high school consolidated into Southmont in 1971. A new elementary school was built around it.

Many other gyms, in places such as Amo, Covington, Fillmore and Pine Village, have avoided the wrecking ball the same way.

Still others have been used as community centers, sometimes made available for rental. Such is the case at Indiana's most famous former high school gym in Knightstown. The home court of the fictional Hickory Huskers in "Hoosiers," the 1922-built gym likely would have been torn down if not for the movie. Now it draws 10,000 to 15,000 visitors a year.

In Fountain County, the former home of the Veedersburg Green Devils is owned by a nonprofit group of local residents who have raised more than $100,000 to refurbish the gym and school, known as the "Hub Civic Center."

"We didn't want this place to become dilapidated," said Jim Robinson, who saw that happen at his alma mater, Richmond Township.

Jim Dickey and John Glancy of the tiny Blackford County village of Roll know the feeling. Sixteen years ago, they bought the Roll gym, which was built in 1938 as part of the Works Progress Administration projects of the 1930s and '40s.

The men, who played on the Roll...