Richmond (5,700) Built 1984
February 6, 2025: Anderson vs. Richmond (Boys)
February 6, 2025: Anderson vs. Richmond (Boys)
I followed the Anderson boys over to Richmond last week to catch a Thursday night tilt against the Red Devils. Thursday night boys games are uncommon on most weeks during the season except for the week of girls sectionals. Schedule makers are typically respectful enough to give the spotlight rightfully to the ladies during this week and avoid scheduling games on Friday or Saturday evenings. I went to a few girls games on other nights during the week, and when I was at Richmond it made me think about how not that many sectional, regional, or semistate games are held at the Tiernan Center. It does happen every once in a long while, but not nearly as often as its NCC counterparts. I'm guessing it may be due to its location in the furthest eastern point of central Indiana, but to me that's really no excuse. Teams travel pretty far all the time for postseason games regardless, and any teams in east-central Indiana would be lucky to play a big postseason game here. It is built to host the best that Hoosier Hysteria has to offer. I hope it gets more opportunities to do so moving forward.
While the Tiernan Center may not currently host a lot of postseason games, it has been the setting of many monumental clashes over the years, many coming in the regular season. This wonderful cathedral of roundball opened right at the peak of NCC dominance. There was no bigger hotbed of high school basketball in the entire country in the 70s and 80s, and Richmond was right in the thick of all of it with some incredible teams and players from that era. They made it to the finals in 1985 and 1987 before finally winning it all in 1992. Their storied history can be traced all the way back to 1912 and the earliest days of basketball in our state. Their former home still stands right beside the Tiernan Center and is now a beautiful performing arts center (featured here in the Fading Gyms section of the website). Richmond is one of the tentpole programs in Indiana high school basketball history, and it has had the honor of calling not one, but two gyms worthy of its prestige home.
Before I go into my glowing review of the Tiernan Center (I honestly love this place), I want to get my only critique out of the way first. Most people who've been following along with my blog can probably already guess what it is. Richmond did a huge remodel of the place in 2021. It doesn't look bad by any stretch of the imagination, compared to many gym remodels I've seen, they honestly did a fine job. It's the opportunity cost though, it's what was lost. The old brown bleachers and gargantuan red "R" at center court were iconic. The bleachers extended from wall to wall and floor to ceiling in the upper level on all four sides of the court. The remodel not only brought about plastic bleachers with steps splitting up the seating every 10 feet, but they also don't go up nearly as far in the upper levels. They didn't just lose 2,000 seats, they also lost a little piece of the awe and intimidation factor. One of the school officials was quoted when the decision was made that they explored many options, and one of the cheaper options was actually to replace the the electrical motors in the old bleachers rather than just replace all the bleachers entirely. The same official also acknowledged the loss of history, but said they had to do what was fiscally responsible and in the best interests of the students. I would love for someone to explain to me how spending MORE money on 8 sets of brand new bleachers is more financially responsible than spending less money on refurbishing what is already there. Never mind the fact that the old bleachers were inherently linked to all the memories of the incredible basketball that has taken place here for years on end. That press release was pretty hard to read for me, and I'm not even connected to the place other than my love for old gyms and the history behind them. I can't imagine how hard it was for the people of Richmond who lived these memories themselves.
With all that being said, the remodel didn't take all the soul out of the gym, and it's still a lovely and impressive place to watch a basketball game. Seymour and East Chicago are probably the only other two gyms that can rival it in terms of upper level seating on all four sides. The new plastic bleachers are all red, and they really pop. The problem with non-black plastic bleachers is always how they will inevitably look in 15-20 years. For now though they look great. The bleachers go up 15 rows on all four sides of the upper deck. As I said before, they no longer reach the back wall so there is space behind. The upper deck has many practice courts that can be used when the bleachers are rolled up along with an indoor track. The place is just massive. There are two small concession stands up here in the corners to go along with the big one on the main level. One in the upper level was actually in use which was nice to see. The athletic accomplishment banner situation in the upper level is kind of all over the place. There are vinyl banners up on the side walls in a couple corners honoring past state champions in a variety of sports. There are also more classic cloth ones doing the same thing hanging in the rafters above the court. I'm not sure if there's any rhyme or reason to the organization, but there is definitely a long history of success to display throughout the gym in many sports. There are also two nice displays up in a corner wall honoring former greats Stacie Shepherd and Woodie Austin. The NCC banner display here is a great symbol for what has become of the conference. There is a lone NCC banner hanging in the middle of the rafters above one baseline. The banners for the remaining NCC schools hang on both sides, which large gaps where the banners for former members have been removed over time. It's a stark reminder of the current state of a once great conference.
You can also find a few sections of removable seating hiding in the upper corners of the gym that they rollout for the biggest games (they used them against Kokomo last year). They're the only remnants remaining of the old bleachers. The lower level seating is a mirror of the upper level on a smaller scale. The bleachers go up 12 rows on all four sides. There are cut outs on the sides of each baseline section which provide a little more maneuverability in the lower corners of the gym. It provides a nice place to display the posters for the senior athletes. One really odd thing I noticed was that on the sideline opposite of the scorer's table, the very bottom row of bleachers wasn't pulled out, but a row of folding chairs was lined up all the way across the sideline for people to sit. I'm sure there's a reason but I have not idea what it is, and it looks really weird. The new floor design is pretty basic but clean. Most of the court is a medium-tan color with some lighter areas inside the wings and semicircles inside the top of the keys. "Richmond Red Devils" is written in red against a black background along each baseline (that is a lot of characters for baseline script). Center court features a silhouette of a devil's face (my Mennonite background will probably never let me fully appreciate this kind of imagery, but to each their own). It's much more subdued than the old "R" that looked the size of Texas. A classic Jumbotron hangs above centercourt displaying everything you need from a scoreboard on all four sides. There are also small scoreboards in all four bottom corners of the gym, right below the press boxes that sit above. There isn't a bad seat in the entire gym.
This was the last of the NCC palaces that I had to cover (other than the greatest of them all that is currently shuttered in my own town), and it felt a little bittersweet as I walked out of the Tiernan Center following a hard-fought Indians win. The history in each one is overwhelming. The nostalgia can overcome you when you imagine what it was like to attend these games every Friday night when they were packed to the gills. It sounds corny, but every once in awhile I feel a legitmate pang in my heart because I know I'm never going to get to go back to that time and experience it for myself. Watching a game in these gyms now is a bit of a tease. You can get a whiff of what it was like, but you know it's not the real thing. This is part of why I hope Richmond starts to host big regional and semistate games again. For most of these old gyms, these are often the only times they get close to full, and anywhere near the atmosphere of the old days. In the meantime, I'll keep looking for a time machine. If anyone has any leads on one, please let me know!
