Elkhart (7,373) Built 1954
March 16, 2024: Crown Point vs. Fishers (Boys)
March 16, 2024: Crown Point vs. Fishers (Boys)
The story of consolidation for rural schools in Indiana over the years has been well-documented. In the 50s and 60s, tiny towns lose their home schools and identities to county conglomerations with directional names. The story for urban schools is a little different. In the 50s-70s, cities actually expand and open more public high schools, then slowly close them due to declining enrollment in the 90s and into the next century. Elkhart High was the pride of the city for over 60 years. It then was split into Elkhart Central and Elkhart Memorial in 1973, though Central got to keep the mascot name and colors (Blue Blazers) while Memorial became the Chargers. Both schools had their own campuses and identities. The one big thing they shared until they rejoined in 2020 was where they played their basketball games, and it truly was a BIG thing.
North Side Gym was actually built on the site of a middle school, though it was obviously intended and used for high school games. In 1954 it opened as the largest high school gym on the planet with 8,200 seats, a title which it held for only 5 years until New Castle wrested it away. It later was remodeled to its current size of 7,373. When the high school split in two, both of them continued to use it as their home court, because with a facility as magnificent as this, why wouldn't you? Neither Central nor Memorial were necessarily powerhouse programs, but they both had their fair share of success over the years. Between its two tenants, North Side was home to a plethora of huge games over the years. Due to it being by far the biggest gym in northeast/central Indiana, it also was a yearly sectional and regional site. Most big gyms in the state are just called whatever their school is. In 2020, the two schools merged back together to become the generic Elkhart Lions. No one is going to call this place "Elkhart," it has been and always will be North Side.
Anyone in this part of the state who loves high school basketball has some kind of memory at North Side. My first trip there was in 2006 when my uncle took his Westview girls team to a semistate championship. I was 12, and the lasting image in my mind from that day is peering into the corner of the gym and seeing what looked like a third deck wrapping all the way around the corner of the gym. The bleachers just looked like they ascended forever in literally every direction. While this isn't completely accurate, it is expansive upward in a way that is only matched by Seymour and the Wigwam. The visual is as impressive as they come.
Walking in almost 20 years later with my dad and my own three year old son, I realized there isn't really a third deck, but everything else was just as, if not more impressive than I remembered. The first thing that hit me coming through the doors was the exact smell you find in an old downtown Indiana two-story antique shop. It was musty to say the least, but this place is a bit of an antique itself. And I love antiques (thanks Mom), so who cares? There's a single, narrow hallway wrapping around the bottom level of the gym with entrances to the arena in all four corners. All the stairs to the upper level are found on the exterior of the gym off of this hallway. As you walk around, you can find old athletic photos from both the Memorial and Central teams. There is a small display case for each team honoring the past traditions of the schools. On this day we decided to sit in the upper level, and walking out of those stairs to the corner of the gym, it will take your breath away in every direction you look. Up to the bleachers climbing into the rafters, across at the corner sections that work upwards to a single point, and down to the action on the court below, it's all mesmerizing.
When you look down on the court here, you see a pretty basic blue/yellow color scheme around a simple, modern two-tone court. There's a giant "E" at center court. This is one of the few big changes that has been made to the gym over the years. It used to just have a basketball painted on as the center court jump circle with a black "Elkhart" painted on the baselines as they had to stay neutral with two different schools and color schemes playing there. It was very simple, but I kind of prefer it over the current design. The other newer addition is the giant jumbotron hanging over center court. It's completely digital, which I don't love, but what really made it weird is that throughout the entire semistate game, it didn't show a single thing that had to do with the actual game being played. It never showed the score, quarter, fouls, anything! It just ran continuous graphics of the teams logos and "Welcome to semistate!" messages. It was truly bizzare. Almost everything else in the gym appears to be untouched since 1954. Wood bleachers are everywhere. The lower level has about 15 rows on all four sides of the court going up. There are really nice modern scoreboards in two corners of the lower levels, and the other corners have small screens running advertisements for sponsers.
The upper level has smaller seating sections on the baseline ends. There are only 7 rows of retractable bleachers pulled out. On each baseline wall you can find banners recognizing past state title and runner-up teams along with smaller accomplishment banners for only the basketball teams. The sideline sections have similar bleachers that go closer to 20 rows up. The most intriguing feature here though are the corners. All four corners have permanent seating sections raised up over either the two sets of stairs leading to the upper level, or the two concession stands in the upper level. They have about 14 rows of bleachers that get narrower in length the higher they get, working up to a point in the corner. The very corner has a wood piece that fits against the final row of bleachers into the wall. None of these sections are connected to the sideline bleachers. They each have their own little set of stairs leading up to them. One slight thing to note is that these permanent sections are stained slightly darker than the rest of the bleachers in the gym. Finally, if you look into the rafters you can see a few catwalk sections that lead to the giant HVAC units that heat and cool the place. A single ladder descends in one corner to reach them. No thank you.
Driving home from the semistate game at North Side, I definitely felt a twinge of something I guess I would call bittersweet emptiness. I knew this was the last game of the season for me. North Side was a great gym to end on, but it just felt like something was missing. The crowd was pretty good, but not great like the one last week at Michigan City. I also think I was having a hard time connecting to the history and tradition of the place like I've been able to at many of the other gyms I've made it to this year. Maybe it's because North Side's history is a little more complicated than many of the others. Maybe it's because that history isn't on display as much as it is in other places. Ultimately though, I figured it was a good way to end the season. Back in the greatest gym in the region where I grew up, with my dad who started taking me to all these gyms as a kid, and with my own kid who hopefully will want to keep tagging along with me for years to come.
