NEWS
Jimtown Community Spirit Revives Historic Gym
In Elkhart County, local affection for Jimtown’s 1929 gym sparked a campaign to repurpose the beloved community landmark.
Better Together
In the 1920s, the lack of a home court forced basketball teams in the rural Elkhart County community of Jamestown (better known as Jimtown) to endure the indignity of being known as the “gymless Jimmies.” The construction of a stately gym in 1929 silenced detractors. With its salt-glazed brick walls and proscenium stage, the new gym became the community’s destination for basketball games, school dances, and pageants. Even after it was replaced by more modern facilities and serving mainly as storage space, the gym remained locally beloved.
In 2019, the township’s superintendent and school board commissioned a feasibility study with a grant from Indiana Landmarks to explore possibilities for restoration, pointing to the old gym’s potential as a community center.
Officials committed to the project with a bond issue, and the Community Foundation of Elkhart County gave a $350,000 grant, setting up a fund for donations and advising the school corporation on how to engage the public.
Led by significant gifts from Jimtown alumni Bruce and Sandy Clark and Craig and Teneen Dobbs, the community raised more than $2.5 million for the transformation, a testament to area support.
Architect Arkos Design and general contractor R. Yoder Construction shepherded the gym’s transformation, bringing back historic exterior and interior details, including the terrazzo entry, ornamental proscenium arch, hanging balcony, fixed bleachers, and scoreboard. Along with adding all new mechanical systems, workers installed new energy-efficient windows replicating the historic ones.
The project prioritized making the building accessible to all, with accessible restrooms and a small elevator that reaches all three floors, including a historic catwalk transversing the upper level. A small vestibule on the back of the building provides ramped access to the stage, while a newly added warming kitchen allows for catered events. The stage can now be separated from the gym court with a movable wall, providing a distinct room for programming. Former locker and shower rooms now serve as offices and meeting space.
In April, the project marked its completion with a ribbon cutting for the newly named Craig and Teneen Dobbs Jimtown Community Center, which serves as a satellite location weekly for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elkhart County and hosts banquets, celebrations of life, and area business meetings.
“This proved we could reuse a historic space and make it relevant and practical in a modern setting, and it didn’t cost substantially more than tearing it down and building something new,” says Baugo Community Schools Superintendent Byron Sanders. “We maintained the dignity of the gym’s 1929 roots while adding modern perks.”
This article first appeared in the November/December 2025 issue of Indiana Preservation, Indiana Landmarks’ member magazine.
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