New Castle (Fieldhouse (8,424) Built 1959
December 2, 2023: Anderson vs. New Castle (Boys)
December 2, 2023: Anderson vs. New Castle (Boys)
When you travel across Indiana and visit the many gyms that hold 5,000+ people, the shock of the sheer enormity starts to wear off after awhile. You start to take it for granted. While I never want to lose site of how special of a situation we have in this state, it does allow you to focus on different aspects of what makes these palaces of basketball special. This is the third time that I've been to New Castle. This was probably the first time that I wasn't just looking around in awe most of the game. It is the largest high school gym in the entire world, a title it wrested back from Seymour in recent years after the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame did an official study. As impressive as this claim to fame is, Chrysler Fieldhouse has a lot more to offer when you look a little closer.
Along the upper wall at one end of the fieldhouse is a sign welcoming fans to the "largest and finest high school fieldhouse in the world." While I would quibble with the second adjective there, it's still a pretty special place, It is the grand daddy of all the sunken gyms that were popularized in the southern half of the state. Ironically it is the northernmost of these gyms that I am aware of. This means though that when you walk in, you are already at the top of the massive sections of permanent bleachers that surround the entire court going down about 22 rows. The bleachers are all a gorgeous dark brown. When they reach the bottom, they give way to an awesome parquet floor that is as synonymous with New Castle basketball as Steve Alford. It's the prettiest parquet I've seen in any gym I've been to. Everything else in the gym is trimmed with green which goes perfectly with the various hues of wood throughout the fieldhouse. Above the playing floor is a massive jumbotron which is necessary in a gym like this. It very oddly puts the score for each team below the team fouls on the scoreboard instead of on top which irks me to no end throughout the game. Above the jumbotron is a very cool looking interior roof. Also hanging above the court above the baselines are properly old basketball accomplishment banners which boast New Castle's decorated history. Behind one baseline is a tunnel leading underneath the bleachers leading back to the lockerrooms. As you walk around the concourse looking down on this basketball sanctuary, you can follow a 4 lane running track. Each wall is covered with New Castle history. My favorite piece is the original trojan center court design on hardwood from 1930 that is framed. There are concession stands at all 4 corners. There are also small sections of extra retractable bleachers along one wall which helped boost the total capacity back over what Seymour could claim. They match the permanent bleachers perfectly. Finally, above each portion of seats hangs a small sign suspended in midair indicating which section you are in that looks like it hasn't been touched in 60 years. A gym this big is impressive on its own, but every detail here is meticulously accounted for. It's brilliant.
I can barely come up with anything negative to say about this place. You would think all of this would make it a shoo-in for a top ten gym. As grand of a place as it is to watch basketball, it's just not as intimidating as the other places ahead of it on the list. I can't put my finger on it exactly. It may be because when given a choice, I generally prefer to have my gyms go up instead of down. That's probably my northern Indiana sensibilities creeping in. With that said, it is still one of the cathedrals that is talked about in every legend that's been told or book that's been written about Hoosier Hysteria. The original NCC gyms will always be near to the heart of anyone who loves basketball in this state. They each are one of a kind. There is nothing like them. New Castle is no exception.
