Hauser (1,573) Built 1966
June 6, 2024: Trinity Lutheran vs. Anderson (Girls)
June 6, 2024: Trinity Lutheran vs. Anderson (Girls)
There's just something about 1A southern schools that feel different. It's probably my long association with the fine people of Montgomery, but there's an aura around these schools, gyms, and basketball programs that makes you feel at home when you're around it. Summer league basketball at one of these schools was a completely new experience for me, but it still had that same sense of community that fits like a glove when you pull into the parking lot. Hauser has one enormously long building that feels like it stretches parallel to State Road 9 for half a mile. Even for a small school, it has to be fairly large as it houses K-12 all under one roof. Driving around back on a summer night, you roll by the dedicated FFA building to find the gym across the parking lot from baseball diamonds hosting a multitude of little league games while the sun sets. It doesn't get more small-town (Thursday) night than that.
Hauser has a gym that's been on my radar for awhile because of the stories I've heard about its unique setup. When I found out our Lady Tribe were going to playing summer league games there, I knew I had to check it out. What makes the whole thing so special is its wraparound section of balcony bleachers. It's the only thing that I've seen or heard of that is comparable to the dynamic in the old Barr-Reeve gym. There are 5 rows of permanent silver metal bleachers (which is unique in itself) all the way around the balcony of the gym in a perfect rectangle. They also overhang the bottom sections of bleachers so it feels like you are right on top of the court. The configurement gets a little janky in the corners where there is a break in the first 3 rows so the stairs can ascend into the section. The bleachers in the very corner are also not angled, so at the deepest points they are facing parallel with the baseline which would make for some serious neck-craning if you wanted to see the action in a packed house. Any other seat though around the top level provides some phenomenal sightlines. It's everything I loved about Kavanaugh Court at Barr-Reeve, and it's just as cool here.
The stairs in the corners of the gym leading up to this awesome configuration of bleachers are also worth talking about. They zigzag in all four 4 corners of the gym, and when you walk up them you seem to just levitate out of the floor into the upper deck. Think of the stairs at Hogwarts if they stuck a couple in a basketball gym. The stairs are pitch black which contrasts beautifully with the silver metal bleachers above and the grey plastic bleachers below. The entire aesthetic of the gym is silver and black with some white around the edges. It's just about perfect. Also in the upper sections you will find beautiful, classic athletic accomplishment banners for individual teams and years. Being a small school, they don't have a ton of sports or as many opportunities to hang these, so it doesn't look overbearing. If they go on an unprecedented run of success, then they may have to come up with some new ideas. What is really cool and something I've never seen done before is that they hang a smaller matching banner underneath with the roster of the team on it. This wouldn't be practical at every school, but I love how it looks here. What a cool way to honor your heritage.
If you keep your gaze skyward at Hauser, you'll just continue to see and appreciate a lot of neat details. In the highest section of the rafters you'll see a red HVAC system running over the court with the school mascot "Jets" written in really sharp script. When you're incorporating the HVAC into the design, that's attention to detail! There's also a cool "Hauser High School Jets" backlit sign up high on one baseline wall. There are big hanging scoreboards in two corners above the court, and then two smaller ones on the baseline walls. The kicker though is two really small shot clock scoreboards that also show the game time hanging above the baseline as well. They look a little busy and seem unnecessary unless they plan on hosting the Pacers at some point in the future. Hanging high above one sideline are a few state championship banners on either side of the American flag which look fine. The opposing sideline has three gorgeous banners honoring the current Hauser High School and the two former schools that consolidated to form it, Clifford and Hope. They also indicate the years the schools were active which is a nice touch.
The lower section of the gym doesn't have as much WOW factor as the top, but it doesn't detract from the overall vibe at all. Each sideline has about 10 rows of grey plastic bleachers, and the baselines have about 5. There are a few athletic accomplishment banners that match what you see at the top along the lower sideline walls. Hanging from the balcony is a colorful and simple Mid-Hoosier Conference team display. One sideline section houses the pep band while the student section is along one baseline. The court design is very simple, newer, and looks classy. There's a big stylish 'H" at center court with a light, heathered hardwood floor behind it. "Hauser" in more classic black lettering is written behind each baseline. "Jets" is written neatly on padded structural polls in each corner. The finishing touch that I want to point out last because I almost missed it the whole time I was taking in the gym, are the little silver airplanes attached perfectly in a row along the bottom of the balcony separating the upper and lower sections. They just look amazing. The perfect accent in a nearly perfectly designed gym. Nothing was left to chance in this place.
After watching the Lady Tribe put in some great work at Hauser, I had one more stop in the town of Hope that I wanted to make before heading home. Hauser sits right outside Hope, and used to play their games in the old Hope gym for about a decade before they built their current one at the high school. You would be hard-pressed to find a more idyllic small southern Indiana town than Hope. It's about as close to Indiana's Mayberry as they come. You can still find the old Hope gym right off the town square about a block away. It's inaccessible now as many of these old WPA gyms from the 30s are. It used to be a community center, then it fell into disrepair due to a leaky roof, and then a fire damaged it even further a few years ago. It's been deemed beyond repair at this point. It's slated to be taken down in the near future. I'm glad I was able to see it even in its current state and snap a few pictures. These gyms are a link to our past as Hoosiers that means more and more to me as I read more about it and hear stories from those who lived it. Hope. What a fitting name for a town that continues to live out their traditions in the present without ever losing touch of their past.
