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School officials have voted to demolish a New Deal-era school building in Pendleton. |
News from the region
Historic Pendleton school targeted for demo
4/13/2012
On March 15, the South Madison School Corporation Board voted to demolish the c.1936 Pendleton-Fall Creek Township High School. School officials claim safety concerns and the cost of maintenance as reasons for demolition of the building, vacant since school consolidation in 2010.
Known locally as the Highrise, the building was constructed under the Public Works Administration (PWA), a lesser-known New Deal Agency created in 1933.
Locally designated by the Pendleton Historic Preservation Commission, the school is also a contributing structure within the National Register-listed Pendleton Historic District. Advocates believe the building is solid (re-roofed in recent years) and well-suited to creative reuse. Demolition would be a forfeiture of public investment by generations of tax payers, and waste an incredible amount of embodied energy in the structure.
Indiana Landmarks’ Eastern Regional Office and other advocates are trying to persuade the school corporation to consider reuse options and save this well-built, structurally sound building that offers connections to heritage to people throughout Madison County.
For more information on efforts to save the school, contact J.P. Hall, 765-478-3172 or jphall@indianalandmarks.org. Or you can join the Save the Historic Pendleton High School community page on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/IndianaLandmarks#!/SaveTheHistoricPendletonHighSchool.
