Haubstadt (2,800) Built 1954
October 17, 2024
October 17, 2024
The hardest part for me when it comes to visiting defunct high schools gyms is actually finding a way to gain access to them. Many of them that exist in tiny rural towns do not have public contact information. I'll often send out messages to anyone who looks like they could be even tangentially involved with the gym in some way. Local Facebook groups have been a godsend in helping me get connected to the right people (I'm a member of more small town groups across the state than even the most prolific AI bots). Even when I do find the right person to help me out, it requires me to overcome a lot of social anxiety to set up a time and actually go meet the person. I'm as introverted as they come. Even having to talk to someone on the phone to set up a visit gives me the willies. Once I actually get to the gym though and start talking with people who are invested in the history of the place, all of it seems to wash away as we quickly find common ground over our love for these homes of Indiana basketball. When I visit active gyms during the basketball season, it's a piece of cake. For $6-$7 I can waltz through the doors, drink my Mountain Dew, take it all in, and go home without ever talking to anyone. When I visited Gibson County over fall break, I actually had a situation more like this even though I was visiting two classic gyms. In both places I just stopped by the library and town hall respectively, they gave me the key to the gym, and I went over by myself and returned it when I was done. As someone who grew up in an area where you never even thought to lock your doors, it was nice to feel that since of trust, even though I was a complete stranger. True southern hospitality from a town whose old mascot nickname would suggest they were quite the opposite.
The Haubstadt Elites started playing roundball all the way back in the 1920s and carried on until their consolidation into Gibson Southern in 1974. In 50 years of competition, they managed to bring home the elusive Princeton sectional title once in 1961. Their gym that still stands today was built in 1954 and it served the school well for two decades and then the community as a whole for many more. When I walked in for the first time, I was a little surprised by how "modern" it felt for a gym that was built 70 years ago. Before my trip I managed to find one picture of the gym online taken by the great Greg Alexander (who has documented old schools across the state better than anyone) from about 20 years ago. It looked much more rustic, and the main difference between then and now was that all the walls at one point were painted white instead of the original bare grey brick, and the floor had been redone as well. It's not necessarily worse, it just feels a little stuck between eras as the place has a throwback design and feel, but has been paired with a contemporary paint job.
The Haubstadt gym is configured in a horseshoe design that was fairly common for its time, but it has a few quirks that make it more unique. For one, there is no stage along the baseline end that doesn't have seating. There is a wide wall with two sets of doors that serve as the main entrance to the gym. There is also a lot more space than usual for this era between the perimeter of the court and the stands. The bleachers along the sidelines sit up above a five foot wall. There are only four rows in these sections, but they sit up high and give a great view of the court. Below them, there is about six feet of concrete between the wall and where the hardwood floor starts. I have to imagine there used to be more floor seating in this area at one point. I'm guessing it was taken out to provide more room for the community events that the gym now hosts, but I can't be certain. In regards to the seating that is still present, these are some of the most beautiful old bleachers you will ever see. They're painted a dark, rich, brown that is just timeless. The bleachers don't sit on risers, They're just built in single, wide sections with a little lip along the edge. The sideline sections run into the far ends of the gym and create some fantastic corner sections. Anyone who's been following along with my adventures knows how infatuated I am with beautiful corner pieces in an old gym. These are second to none. Coming out of the corners, the baseline seating is almost as spectacular. Eight long rows of these charming seats work their way down to the floor level. Perfection.
Unlike other horseshoe gym designs, Haubstadt doesn't have any entrances coming out underneath the corner sections. There are two side entrances located under the sideline sections at the far end of the court, but not quite in the corners. There are stairs to the upper seating level here as well as on the other end of the gym by the main entrance. The built-in stairs in all sections of the gym are just as good looking as the bleachers themselves. Light blue railings crisscross all over the gym giving fans a helping hand up the stairs and safety from toddlers falling onto the floor below. The court itself was redone at some point and now has a lighter golden hue that shines under the bright lights. There are four wooden practice hoops that hang from above along the sidelines. In the corners by the main entrance and the area by the side entrances, there are stairs that descend down into areas beneath the bleachers that I assume at one time served as locker rooms. Along the wall above the main entrance you can find a little bit of Haubstadt history. There are pictures of multiple old basketball teams, including a large portrait of the 1961 sectional winning team. On the other end of the wall are pictures of the old graduating classes and a really neat Haubstadt banner hanging from near the ceiling.
When I think of the word "elite," I don't automatically think of someone just being the best at what they do. The first thing that comes to mind is someone thinking they are of a higher class or just better than the people around them, whether it is earned or not. I found that the people I did get to interact with in Haubstadt did not carry this kind of attitude with them in the slightest. They immediately asked me questions about where I was from, we played the Mennonite game when they heard my last name, and they showed genuine interest in this silly project I am working on. They were elite at making an outsider feel comfortable in their community. They also have shown to be elite at preserving their old gym in a way that will preserve the legacy of their school and town for generations to come.
