Work planned for International Circus Hall of Fame buildings

PERU, Ind. — Two original buildings will be restored at the International Circus Hall of Fame in northeastern Indiana.

A $50,000 grant from the Indiana Historical Society will be used to pay for work at the buildings in Peru, the Kokomo Tribune reported.

The American Circus Corp. buildings were constructed on the grounds when it served as the winter quarters for some of the biggest circuses in the world, according to the newspaper.

A rotted roof on an original corn crib has to be replaced before it will be converted into a storage barn for circus wagons and other items. An old office building also will be rehabilitated with heating and air-conditioning to store and archive artifacts and documents.

The organization also received a $2,000 grant from the Miami County Community Foundation to create two video displays. One will show old films from the organization’s archives that relate to the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, International Circus Hall of Fame Treasurer Bob Cline Cline said.

The other video display will show old, color films taken at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the newspaper reported.

That footage is from recently digitized International Circus Hall of Fame’s archives.