Jake Fox, Star Press
MUNCIE — Nine of the top 10 largest high school gyms in the United States are in Indiana, and 13 of the top 15. There’s truly nothing quite like Indiana’s love affair with high school hoops.
The Hoosier Hysteria phenomenon has been alive and well throughout this season’s state tournament. Fans have waited in line for hours to fill some of the state’s largest gyms – New Castle, Seymour, Washington, Marion – the past couple weeks to see which teams would wind up at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to play for a state championship.
But if you take a look at the list of the largest high school gyms in the country, one of them is different from the rest.
Because it has sat empty all season with a still uncertain fate.
It was November when a storm ripped through downtown Muncie and put a massive hole in the roof at the historic Muncie Fieldhouse. There was early optimism that Central would return to the building by the end of the season, but here we are four months later, the inside is still a mess and no decision has been reached.
"We're just waiting for the next decision," Central athletic director Tom Lyon said, referring to the building's current status.
What will the ultimate future of the Muncie Fieldhouse be? It's still hard to say.
“I just think there’s so many iconic gyms around the state, and we obviously have one of the top-10 largest in the state in our parking lot,” Lyon said. “And as far as history goes, we’d love to have it and keep it running.
“It’s an old building and we have to make decisions based on that. But historically, it’s a gym of the community.”