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The Gary Common Council is expected to vote on a plan Monday to raze the Gary Public Schools Memorial Auditorium. But, plans call for preserving its historic features, including limestone, cornices and the keystone.
Paul Sableman/CC-BY-2.0GARY, Ind. (AP) — An auditorium built to honor Gary residents killed during World War I but largely gutted by a fire likely faces demolition.
The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports the Gary Common Council is expected to vote on a plan Monday to raze the Gary Public Schools Memorial Auditorium. It would be replaced by a 38-unit housing project for senior citizens and middle-income residents.
Gary Redevelopment and Planning Director Joe Van Dyk says the structure built in 1927 was beyond saving. Still, plans call for preserving its historic features, including limestone, cornices and the keystone.
If approved, demolition would take place this summer.
The newspaper reports the auditorium hosted former President Harry Truman, astronaut Frank Borman and the Jackson 5, who earned the top prize in an amateur talent show there.
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