Pennville (800?) Built 1953
July 26, 2024
July 26, 2024
Visiting the Jay County High School gym this last winter was one of, if not the biggest highlight of the basketball season for me. It just blew me out of the water with all the unique intricacies the place had. One of its unique aspects is the fact that it's the only public high school in the county which is pretty rare. Eight different high schools were consolidated over the course of a couple years to form what is now Jay County. In the Jay County gym, they do the best job I've seen anywhere of honoring those former schools. Only two of the former eight schools have gyms still standing. Pennville happens to be one of them. It's a place that has seen a lot of change since the original high school opened in 1911. It had an old gym prior to the current one that the school outgrew, so construction began and the gym was finished in 1953. It was used for high school games until 1975 when consolidation hit, but was then transitioned to an elementary school. Unfortunately, the original adjoining high school building was razed at some point and a modern addition was built for the elementary. The elementary itself closed down in 2018. At that point the status of the gym and school were in limbo.
The school system still owned the building but didn't really have a use for it. Like many of these old buildings in small towns, there didn't seem to be a lot of viable uses for it. This is when a group of local individuals who graduated from the high school themselves stepped in. They had to navigate miles of red tape and bureaucracy, but ultimately managed to secure the building and funding to fix it up and turn it into a community center for the town. I had the pleasure of meeting with four of these alumni members from the high school who are the reason the gym is still standing and in the incredible shape it is in today. I learned from them that the gym was built at a cheaper cost than it should have been in the early 50s because most of the labor and many of the materials were just donated from community members. It was a labor of love for the community, from the community. It's that same labor of love that has allowed it to stand the test of time.
Entering the Pennville gym takes you into the original foyer which utilizes one of the few shared walls left from the original high school. There's some memorabilia displayed that I thought was pretty cool (if I only knew what was soon to come!) and the original ticket window with a kitschy old lady displayed and running the booth. Stepping inside the gym, the arched roof takes you aback just like it does at Churubusco. There are two huge wooden beams running the whole length from baseline to baseline. The iron work between them and to the ends of the roof criss cross back and forth in a beautiful pattern. The next thing that catches the eye is the hardwood court. It was in need of repair a few years ago and they recently refinished the whole thing. It looks gorgeous. It has a lighter colored wood grain with some heathered hues thrown in as well. The classic yellow Pennville Bulldog sits at centercourt. It looks like something you would find on a modern high school court today. Normally I'm not sure that I would love something this contemporary in an otherwise classicly preserved old gym, but it really looks sharp.
Another big feature in the gym is the stage running along the far baseline wall. It isn't as big or grand as stages in other gyms since the arched roof cuts down on the height of the wall, but it still adds to the overall aura of the place. Yellow padding runs along the bottom of it to protect players as the baseline stops directly in front of it. There are stage doors on either side of it as well. The baseline wall from which you enter the gym is much more understated, but has two sets of original doors that help take you back in time. There isn't any additional signage or displays, but there are two old wooden practice hoops that hang directly on the wall on either side of the main hoop that extends over the playing floor. There is much older padding in the center part of this wall. The baseline sides at this juncture look very different from one another, even though at one time I believe they were nearly identical. On one side sits 8 rows of dark wooden original bleachers. They are permanent and also house the original scorer's table. Above them stands a tall, white wall with 4 windows letting in natural light. It's simple, but looks majestic with the arched roof.
The opposite side once had the same set of permanent bleachers, but they were removed so there would be more space for P.E. class when the gym was used as an elementary school. It's unfortunate, but not uncommon in that situation. They've since done a good job though of utilizing the wall to commemorate the history of the county and the Pennville school itself. All eight former Jay County schools have their own display, with Pennville being the biggest and most prominent in the middle. Underneath there is another "Pennville Bulldogs" sign with the two former logos both painted on in yellow. There is also a framed banner and picture of the 1962 team that won the lone sectional title that was captured while the Bulldogs played in this gym. The whole wall looks fantastic from the bleachers on the other side. One of the original scoreboards also hangs up in the corner.
I spent over an hour at the Pennville gym which is longer than I usually take to photograph and learn about these older gyms. The alumni group that hosted me gave me a grand tour of the entire building, not just the gym (A huge thank you goes out to Ralph and Pat Frazee, John Gibson, John Corwin, and Rich Imel, I could not have asked for better guides). Mr. Gibson opened a museum in one of the old classrooms which is just a treasure trove of Pennville history. If I had more time I would have stayed and asked questions in there for hours. In the main part of the school, a family has opened up a used bookstore and record shop (right up my alley and a place I would like to return to again when I have more time). They told me of all the work they've done so far, and what they are looking forward to doing in the future. The gym has only been under their control for a few years now, and you can tell they are just getting started. There is a great sense of pride in what they've been able to do to not just preserve their history and traditions, but create a space that can be enjoyed by the same community that built it for decades to come.
