Baule: Muncie Fieldhouse repairs likely after hoops season

MUNCIE, Ind. — As the Muncie Fieldhouse faces necessary renovation, Muncie Schools Superintendent Steven Baule told The Star Press that those repairs are unlikely to affect the upcoming high school basketball season.

The east end of the storied building, which has hosted Central basketball games since 1928, will remain closed. Baule is hoping to have a renovation plan finalized and ready to be presented to the school board in the next four to six weeks. The boys basketball team opens its season Nov. 22 against Hamilton Southeastern — less than 10 weeks from now.

“At this point, there is no way we could do the work before the games anyways,” Baule said. “We would rather wait and do it well than rush to do something in the short term and have a longer-term problem.”

When asked if that means repairs would start in the spring or summer, Baule said, "Probably ... that’s a good assumption. I don’t know if that’s 100 percent accurate, but it’s probably unlikely that we’re going to disrupt the basketball season.”

Spring or summer “would be the goal,” he added.

Baule said he talked to an architect (presumably from Schmidt Associates, which did a feasibility study on the Fieldhouse) on Tuesday and they are exploring several different options, but are narrowing in on exactly what they want to do with not just the Fieldhouse, but the entire area between the high school, Wysor Street and the White River, where the school uses land for most of its athletic activities, including football, tennis, soccer and more.

“I think we have a pretty good plan at this point for that, we just have to put it together,” Baule said. “Then the issue is, how will we fund it? That’s sort of piece two of that.”

Speaking of funding, that was a topic at Tuesday night’s school board meeting. The school board approved a Fieldhouse Renovation Fund as a pass-through account to assist those who wish to donate to the Fieldhouse project. This fund, which would be set up through the Community Foundation, would ensure those in the community that if they donate to either “Save the Fieldhouse” group or either of the two existing GoFundMe’s, their money will be going toward the Fieldhouse.

Baule did recommend one change in this proposal presented to the board. He asked that instead of saying “Fieldhouse renovation,” it say “Fieldhouse or other athletic facilities.” This means that if more money is raised than is necessary to renovate the Fieldhouse, it could go toward the football stadium, tennis courts or pool.

In a previous conversation, Baule estimated several million dollars in repairs to the Fieldhouse.

There also appears to be a good chance that the Fieldhouse has a new name at some point. Selling naming rights has become increasingly common in high school athletics. Baule said he has been talking to the Chamber of Commerce about facilitating those conversations with potential sponsors, but he declined to go into any specifics.

“We have to figure out what our revenue plan, but definitely that is within the scope of what we’re looking at.”

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Contact sports features writer Ryan O’Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.