Eastern Hancock (1,370) Built 1971
December 7, 2024: Wes-Del vs. Eastern Hancock (Boys)
December 7, 2024: Wes-Del vs. Eastern Hancock (Boys)
I started a new page on my blog last week called "Fading Gyms," This is a place where I want to honor gyms that are still standing in some form or function, but for whatever reason don't really resemble a place that used to host high school basketball games anymore. This could be due to weather, fire, extensive remodeling, or just the passage of time. There are two gyms in Hancock County that I haven't been able to visit and photograph yet that fall into this category. The former home of the Wilkinson Bulldogs went viral a couple of years ago when it was put on the housing market. At some point in time, the owners had actually turned the front part of the building into legitimate living quarters, but left much of the original gym intact. News outlets caught wind of the opportunity to live in a historic Hoosier gym and the story spread like wildfire (yes this would be my ultimate dream, but unfortunately my wife does not share the same vision I do for the ideal house to raise a family in). A local buyer did eventually buy the old Wilkinson gym/home and continued to renovate it. The second fading gym is in Charlottsville. From the few pictures I could find online, it looks like it hasn't been touched or cared for in decades. While the memories of Hoosier Hysteria are fading in both places, the vanishing of those memories is for very different reasons. Yet both places are infinitely more interesting than the current place students in these two towns play their home games: Eastern Hancock.
There is something about the color of royal blue that just doesn't do it for me. It reminds me of the ocean (which I'm not a big fan of) and what I would picture in my head when we would sing "Deep and Wide" in Sunday school growing up. Eastern Hancock is nicknamed the Royals, so I can't exactly judge them for covering their entire gym from head to toe in the color, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. It is just everywhere. The bleachers, most of the walls, the backdrops, any lettering, the banners, you can't escape it. The Eastern Hancock gym was built in 1971, though the school was actually formed in 1964 when Wilkinson and Charlottsville merged (I actually think they may have originally played their home games at the old Wilkinson gym before this gym was built, as you can see an "EH" at center court in photos of the old gym). The "new" Eastern Hancock gym is pretty small for being built in the 70s. It has two opposing sides of blue plastic retractable bleachers that go up about 9 rows on one side and 17 on the other. There is no upper level, but the side that sits behind the benches and scorer's table has a little press area at the top. It sits behind a black fence that can also be accessed by doors behind it which I'm assuming are accessible by other avenues outside the gym. There is also a photo mural running all the way across this upper wall with pictures of various Eastern Hancock athletic teams and one of the school mottos written in the middle (this school loves their mottos and sayings).
The bleachers on this side are odd because I swear they are steeper than the ones on the opposite side. The lower steps are not pulled out in the middle so there is more floor room behind the scorer's table, but I don't think that's the reason I felt that way. I climbed up them to take pictures and it was immediately noticeable, Someone from the school may tell me I'm imagining things, but I don't think I'm crazy! I felt like I was going to fall backwards as I was making my way up them. It's very weird. On the other hand, I may just be crazy. The home side of the bleachers go up higher, but there's nothing particularly special about them. Written above them on this wall is "Royal Pride" in big letters with more slogans written around it. All of it is done in that same royal blue script. The baseline walls aren't much more exciting, but they do have a couple things worth pointing out. The wall above the main entrance to the gym doesn't really have anything except for some mismatch athletic accomplishment banners up in one corner. The opposite wall has many more modern, uniform, and boring vinyl banners hanging high on the left-hand side. The banners in this gym have no cohesion whatsoever. There's even a random white cheerleading one completely by itself where the wall juts in beside the bleachers.
The two best features of the gym are almost hidden in one corner of the gym. The first is a decent Mid-Eastern Conference team display. It's almost identical to the one I saw the other night at Monroe Central, but it's bigger and not on a piece of cheap vinyl. Beside that display are three seperate old-school cloth banners honoring Charlottsville, Wilkinson, and Westland (which is a school that was consolidated even before the other two) and the years they won sectionals before being dissolved into Eastern Hancock. The banners look great and it's a nice way to honor those communities. There are some sharp "Royal Pride" mats running across the bottom of the baseline walls as well. The court is pretty simple. It's a light tan with an ever so slightly darker tan inside the wing areas. Both foul lanes feature more royal blue. It has a waxy look to it all that makes it appear more synthetic than hardwood. There's a big "EH" at center court and "Eastern Hancock" written in a slightly fancy block script across the baselines in white.
I headed over to Eastern Hancock with both of my sons in tow. It was the first time taking both of them with me to a game sans my wife. We went to the JV game and left at the start of the varsity since the youngest tends to turn into a pumpkin after 8 o'clock. They did great, we had fun, and it was kind of a sleepy environment in what I would describe as a sleepy gym. I'm sure the varsity contest was more lively. It's not a bad place to watch a game, the color scheme just isn't for me (I realize this is totally subjective, some people may love the color of fancy suits) and there aren't a ton of standout attributes. Driving home, my mind just kept thinking about those other two old gyms and how I can't wait to visit them in the daylight sometime soon, even if it is just from the exterior. A fading gym will always capture my attention more than a current one that doesn't have much of a spark to it.
