Shields Memorial Gymnasium
400-418 West 5th Street, Seymour
Game Plan
Seymour’s Shields Memorial Gymnasium returns to the 10 Most Endangered list after first appearing in 2021. Though local support for saving the gym remains strong, the clock is counting down on prospects for its reuse. The gym’s owner has indicated that the property could soon be auctioned to the highest bidder, but with no assurances that the gym will be protected from demolition.
In other areas of the state, historic high school gyms have found new use as community recreational centers, event centers, and restaurants. Shields Memorial Gymnasium occupies a city block in the National Register-listed Walnut Street Historic District, surrounded by open land that gives it potential for reuse while also making it a target for developer who might want to demolish the existing structure.
One of Indiana’s largest high school gyms when it was built by Works Progress Administration workers in 1941, Shields Memorial served as home court for the Seymour Owls until the school closed in 1970. A local family purchased the long-vacant property in 1996 and later had to demolish the seriously dilapidated 1910 high school nearby, leaving the gym as the last tangible tie to the site for many Seymour alumni.
Greg Sekula
Director
Indiana Landmarks Southern Regional Office
812-284-4534
gsekula@indianalandmarks.org
Stacy Brooks
812-528-0344
sjbrooks522@gmail.com
Saving threatened buildings takes teamwork. You can be a part of that team. Reach out to local leaders. Let them know these buildings are important to you. And support state and local preservation groups.