Effort started for gym roof in Pennville

PENNVILLE — Pennville Community Gym is actively seeking funds to replace its roof.

The building, once owned by Jay School Corporation, has had leaking in the former band room, as well as other classrooms and restrooms. A flat roof extends over classrooms on the east and north side and a hallway on the west side. Plans are to replace the flat roofs with sloped roofs, which will reach over three sides of the gym.

Ralph Frazee, secretary on the community gym board, explained drainage pipes have degraded over the years. The community gym board has hired contractors to do patch work, but a full roof replacement is needed to stop the leaks.

The organization recently received a $40,000 grant from The Portland Foundation for the project, which is expected to cost about $60,000. It’s asking the community to help contribute the remaining funds.

Community members took possession of the former school building at 390 W. Pleasant St. a few years ago and converted it into a community space. Pennville Community Gym is actively used by Pennville area residents for events such as birthday parties, meetings, trainings and alumni banquets. The gym also offers a place for folks to walk indoors or play sports.

“I think it helps to keep the identity of Pennville,” said Frazee. “It (serves as) a community identity and I think it just makes an excellent place to gather.”

The building had been sitting empty since Pennville Elementary School closed its doors in 2017. But the gym itself, constructed in the 1950s, wasn’t built by Jay School Corporation. It was originally constructed in the 1950s.

“The Pennville gym was actually built by the local community,” explained Frazee, a graduate of Pennville High School. “I’ve talked with some of the older citizens of the community, and they talk about spending hours up here, some of them hauling stone in for the base, some of them doing some block work when they were putting the building up, so the Pennville Community Gym is now back in the hands of the community.”

Jay Schools took control of the building in the 1960s. County basketball tournaments were held in the gym until about 1975, when the last class of Pennville High School graduated.

The gym has mostly kept its original design with a few modifications. Bleachers on one side were removed to make space for other activities. The community gym board installed a new heating and air conditioning system, painted and purchased tables and chairs. A mural, completed last year, has also been added on one of its walls. It depicts a scene from an old yearbook photo.

“There’s a lot of little projects that kind of go unnoticed from time to time, but there’s other projects we’ve got that we’d like to expand as we can get funds for them,” Frazee said.

The organization recently secured a $1,000 grant from the Pennville Endowment Fund to upgrade its electrical outlets. Its current outlets aren’t grounded, which has presented a challenge for groups bringing in meals, noted Frazee. Hopes are to update the electrical system, but the board will need to raise another $5,500 to pay for that work.

As for the roof, the organization is taking donations. It still needs $20,000, or a third of the cost, to pay for the roof purchase and installation. Donations may be sent to Pennville Community Gym P.O. Box 77 Pennville, Indiana 47369.

“We’ve got four and five generations that went to the school, and you know it’s, for some of them, it’s important that we keep the legacy of the Pennville school alive and that it doesn’t become a rubble pile any time soon,” said Frazee. “We need the donations to protect what we’ve got and hopefully work from there to take it to a community attraction that’s going to draw people in.”