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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTwo central Indiana structures landed on Indiana Landmarks' list of 10-most-endangered places in Indiana.
The Indianapolis-based not-for-profit unveiled the list on Saturday night at a Rescue Party staged for supporters.
“Our mission is to save meaningful places, and this is a list of 10 important places in the state that are in great danger of being lost,” Marsh Davis, president of Indiana Landmarks, said in a prepared statement. “But they’re not lost causes—all have the potential for revival and reuse."
Since the first most-endangered list appeared in 1991, 99 historic places have appeared. This year's list includes seven new entries and three making repeat appearances.
New to the list:
-Mills House, 944 Fry Road, Greenwood.
Indianapolis architect Harry Cooler designed the 1955 house for Ernie Mills, who loved Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. Cooler took his inspiration from Wright’s Usonian houses, giving the building a flat roof and broad overhanging eaves, clerestory windows, and a broad cantilevered balcony. The house blurs the distinction between inside and outside, with walls of floor-to-ceiling glass, many doors to the outside, and fieldstone and other natural materials used both inside and out.
Ernie Mills owned a company that sold formica countertops and cabinetry, and he used his home as a showcase for his products. The vacant house has been deteriorating for years with a leaking roof and rotten soffits. Harry Cooler, vigorous at 88, says the damage could be repaired if it isn’t allowed to escalate.
-Gary Heat, Light & Water Co. Warehouse, Gary.
-Indiana County Homes (examples in Floyd, Steuben, Parke, Warren, and Randolph counties).
-McDonald House, Attica.
-Peters-Margedant House, Evansville.
-Wabash County Sheriff’s House and Jail, Wabash.
-West Baden Colored Church, West Baden.
Repeating from the 2013 list:
-Anderson Athletic Park Pool, Anderson.
Built in 1925, the Anderson Athletic Park Pool is one of only a few swimming pools remaining of the 130 constructed across America following an unusual design by engineer Wesley Bintz. Bintz patented an egg-shaped above-ground pool that incorporated dressing rooms under the structure.
-Eagle Cotton Mill, Madison.
-Harmony Way Bridge, between New Harmony and White County, Ill>
The outlook for six places on the 2013 most-endangered ist improved enough that Indiana Landmarks removed the label. One landmark on the 2013 list fell to the wrecking ball. The city of Walkerton demolished the Walkerton Church as a threat to public safety, the 14th loss among the structures that have appeared on the list.
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