Arthur B. Henning Architectural Records Available Online

The Drawings + Documents Archive's collection of Arthur B. Henning Architectural Records has recently been digitized for enhanced research and discovery, and is available online in the Ball State University Libraries' Digital Media Repository. This digital collection consists of photographs, sketches, reference material, and ephemera from the office of architect Arthur B. Henning, from Anderson, Indiana. The collection spans from 1922-1980 and includes architectural drawings by architect Erwin F. Miller. Henning worked for Miller and later bought the firm; he acquired the drawings at that time. Henning's drawings were sold to a subsequent firm. Drawing sets are for projects in Madison County and include schools, residences, brewery facilities, and a business.

The bulk of the collection consists of Henning's projects, which were primarily schools, churches, government buildings, libraries, hospital and businesses in Anderson, Indiana, and surrounding Madison County. Some of his largest projects were City Hall, Community Hospital, Fire Department Headquarters, and Anderson High School, all in Anderson, Indiana. Other projects include multiple buildings on the Anderson College campus, Central Christian Church, First Methodist Church, and numerous schools in the area. Items in the collection include photographs, building dedication booklets, newspaper clippings, articles, and reference books.

One of his most outstanding projects is the threatened Anderson High School gymnasium, the second-largest high school gymnasium in the country. After the community of Anderson consolidated its two remaining high schools in recent years, the former Anderson High School and gymnasium were left vacant. The Wigwam, as it is known, has been a vital part of the community since its construction and dedicated preservationists are currently looking for new uses for the building. Above is a two-page spread from the building's dedication booklet, when the future burned bright for this gymnasium.

Anderson High School's Wigwam Gymnasium

The New York Times' Sunday Sports section had an interesting article about high school basketball in Indiana. The story focused on the fate of Anderson High School Wigwam gymnasium, which is located in nearby Anderson, Indiana, and has recently been vacated due to the reduced student enrollment and dwindling population in the once-booming factory town. Many residents are fighting to save the gymnasium, but one of its greatest features--its massive size--does little to help those efforts.

The school and gymnasium were designed by Anderson-based architect Arthur B. Henning, whose collection is in the Drawings and Documents Archive. Above are images from the building's 1961 dedication booklet titled "With the Future in Mind," which promotes the 8,189-seat building as "one of the most versatile and beautiful athletic and educational plants in Indiana."

It was built when high school basketball games were a regular weekend event for many Indiana residents. The builders in 1960 had no reason to predict the factories would close and people would stop going to the games. "Basketball has been a way of life in Anderson almost from its beginning in 1904," according to the dedication booklet. Now we're left wondering what the future will hold for this iconic structure.

Images: Anderson High School gymnasium dedication booklet, 1961; Anderson High School gymnasium construction photograph, ca. 1960. Arthur B. Henning Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collection, Ball State University Libraries.

March Madness + Sullivan Fever, part five

The Indiana film premiere of Louis Sullivan: The Struggle for American Architecture is tomorrow! Expect an exciting evening that consists of seeing the movie in HD, getting up close to the actual cornice of Sullivan's Chicago Stock Exchange building, and eating terracotta-inspired cupcakes. It's all free and not to be missed. See you at 7:30 in Architecture Building, room 100.

With Butler's exciting win this weekend, we happily continue our postings of basketball-related collections from the archive. The extraordinary Ball Gymnasium, located on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, was designed by Muncie architect Cuno Kibele and constructed in 1925. The building cost $400,000 to build, which would be approximately $4.5 million in today's dollars, with money coming mostly from the Ball family. The building is designed in the Collegiate Gothic style and matches the Burkhardt Building, which Kibele also designed, the Fine Arts Building, Lucina Hall, and the North Quadrangle Building, all located in the Old Quadrangle at the southern end of campus.

The Ball Teachers College Hoosieroons (now the Ball State Cardinals) played their home games in this building until 1963, when a new physical education building was built and Ball Gymnasium became used primarily as a women's gym. George F. Schreiber of Indianapolis was the architect of an addition built in 1939. An extensive restoration renovation of Ball Gymnasium was completed in 1997.

March Madnes + Sullivan Fever, part 4

These photographs of an unnamed gymnasium under construction come from the Pierre and Wright Architectural Records Collection. They're extraordinary photographs dating from the late 1920s-1930s, but we have not been able to determine the structure. If anyone knows, please leave a comment.

More March Madness + Sullivan Fever

Today's basketball images from the Archive come from our extensive Indiana Bridge Company collection, and include a client file card and 1960 newspaper clipping of the Anderson High School gymnasium during construction in Anderson, Indiana, in nearby Madison County. The original structure was destroyed by fire in the late 1950s and it was rebuilt as it stands now, in 1960.

Founded in 1886 and still operating under the name Indiana Bridge-Midwest Steel Inc., Indiana Bridge Company is Muncie's oldest manufacturer. When the Indiana Bridge Company was established by Theodore F. Rose and associates on May 17, 1886, the company built truss bridges not only for the needs of Indiana but nationwide. It later converted to making steel girders for the construction industry. During World Wars I and II, the company participated in the mobilization for the war by producing steel for the United States and its allies.

The client file cards are 4 x 6 inch cards, housed in a ca. 1900s wooden filing cabinet in the Archive. They contain information on all clients of the Indiana Bridge Co. from the beginning of the company until the 1970s. The first column is the job number, the second column is the date, the next column has a description of the job.

This particular file card is interesting due to the notes and extra jobs required due to an "architectural change" and "drawing room error."

Anderson High School is known as the "Anderson Indians" and the gymnasium is called the Wigwam. This massive building seats nearly 9,000 fans and is the second largest high school gymnasium in the country. In case you're wondering, the largest high school gymnasium seats 9,325 people and is located in New Castle, Indiana, which is only about 25 miles away from the Anderson gymnasium. As for the top ten largest high school gyms in the country, only two are located outside Indiana.