Students and teachers haven’t walked the halls of Gary Roosevelt High School since 2019, but plans are in motion to preserve the school’s historical significance to the community.
The Gary School Board approved a two-year memorandum of understanding Wednesday with Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation Program to develop an adaptive reuse plan for the school.
The agreement allows Landmarks to hold community engagement sessions and surveys to gain input from stakeholders.
Greta Heard takes a photo of the historical marker at the Roosevelt High School building in Gary on Sept. 19, 2020. Heard, of Gary, graduated from Roosevelt in 1979. (Andy Lavalley/Post-Tribune)
It also allows access to the school for the removal and disbursement of content.
The school district will continue to cover security and insurance expenses and have the final word on the storage of all content.
In May, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Roosevelt on its list of 11 Most Endangered Places, a recognition its supporters point to as they try to repurpose the iconic building that closed in 2020.
Pipes burst in the aging building, at 730 W. 25th Ave., during the frigid winter of 2019 sending students to the Gary Area Career Center for the remainder of the school year.
A state board, which oversaw the district during a state takeover, closed the school in 2020 when repair cost estimates were deemed too high. Water had cascaded into classrooms, offices and other student areas. It ruined ceiling tiles and flooring, allowing mold growth and other environmental and air quality hazards.
Nearly 100 years old, Roosevelt is one of three Indiana schools built during the 1920s to house Black students during the Jim Crow segregation era.
The school spans 700,000 square feet and could house up to 4,000 students. Today, the entire Gary district has about 4,400 students.
Repurposing the poorly maintained building could be costly and daunting. Roosevelt is anchored by an aging boiler system that warms water for heat and circulates it through pipes located behind plaster and concrete walls.
Eunice Trotter, director of Landmarks’ Black Heritage Preservation Program, told the school board its focus is to maintain the building’s integrity.
She said a project manager would be provided and a team, including local and state archivists and preservationists would review the building’s contents.
Trotter estimated costs at about $30,000 for an air quality assessment and the community engagement effort.
“We want to get started quickly because that building can’t continue to take what it’s taken, with weather and breakdowns…” she said.
While the school district owns the building, the city owns the athletic fields to its north. Trotter said it’s seeking a memorandum of understanding from the city, as well.
“We’re really excited about this project,” said Superintendent Yvonne Stokes,” who supported the MOU.
Trotter said her organization is also working on preservation efforts on Means Manor, a Black-built neighborhood in Midtown, St. Augustine Church, St. John Lutheran Church, the Bethlehem Healing Temple and the John Stewart Settlement House.
“I see Gary with so much potential,” said Trotter. “I’m not going to give up seeing that its history is preserved, and it remains an icon of Black excellence.”
A coalition including the National Gary Theodore Roosevelt Alumni Association, the Gary East Side Development Corp. announced in May they were joining the efforts of Landmarks.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
