Under a tent in the sweltering heat of a mid-August morning, Indian Creek school officials joined students, contractors and architects to mark the start of construction of a $33.5 million fieldhouse and auditorium that is more than half a decade in the making.
During the groundbreaking Wednesday, an architect, a consultant, school administrators, school board members and student representatives buried their shovels and lifted dirt on a symbolic narrow rectangle of soil.
The occasion kicked off construction of the 68,000-square-foot fieldhouse and 26,700-square-foot auditorium.
The fieldhouse will include three regulation basketball courts, a multipurpose room, a wrestling room, a cardio fitness room, a weight room, a suspended track, and dropdown cages for baseball and softball.
The fieldhouse will have space to host tournaments in basketball, wrestling and volleyball, which will help with revenue and bring visitors from around the state to Indian Creek schools, said Tim Edsell, superintendent.
“This is for the kids,” Edsell said. “When we see them performing on the stage, when we see tournaments in the fieldhouse, that’s why we’re here today.”
The auditorium will seat 916 people, and will include a half-depth orchestra pit, makeup rooms, dressing rooms, a large storage space, theatrical lighting, fly curtains, a scene shop and a green room.
The auditorium will replace the current one, built in 1976, which seats 250 people. The school, on occasion, runs out of tickets for plays and musicals due to limited capacity, said Sean Zachery, Indian Creek Middle School principal.
The project has been in the works since 2015, and is expected to be completed in time for the 2023-24 school year. Although there will be minimal impact on students during construction, traffic flows changed Monday and won’t return to normal until after construction is completed.
The district is paying for the project with money from a property tax hike of 10 cents per $100 of assessed value that was approved in 2019. It will take effect next year and last until 2042.
The project was a collaboration of architects and school officials, said Mike Beebe, a partner at Indianapolis-based architecture firm Lancer+Beebe.
“We are honored to be part of the design process,” Beebe said. “We are looking forward to the project being built and completed and serving this community for generations to come.”
The fieldhouse and auditorium will have an impact on Indian Creek students for decades, said Luke Skobel, high school principal.
“The importance and significance of today’s ceremonies are not lost on me,” Skobel said.
“This is something that will last long after my lifetime. The purpose of these buildings is to bring enjoyment for decades to come. Children not even born yet can perform classics in the auditorium. Students in the fieldhouse will be learning about perseverance and work ethic, and it’s a building the community can enjoy to work on their health and wellness.”
