Deal to turn abandoned high school into community center falls through

INDIANAPOLIS — John Marshall High School was the last new high school built by Indianapolis Public Schools, but it was abandoned for six years. It will remain vacant after the city of Indianapolis decided not to buy the building.

Indianapolis had planned to buy the John Marshall campus for $750,000 and turn it over to a non-profit so it could become a community center. The Department of Metropolitan Development decided to back out of the deal because it estimated it would cost $18 million to repair the building.

“After further investigation and due diligence, it became clear that it was more of a burden than originally thought,” said Lucas Gonzalez of the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development. “It’s unfortunate that it couldn’t take off, but at the end of the day, we have to work within the limits of what’s really possible.”

The high school opened at the corner of 38th Street and Mitthoefer Street in 1967, but closed in 1986. It later reopened and transitioned to a middle school before closing for good in 2018.

Indianapolis Public Schools Executive Director of Operations Strategy Zach Mulholland said IPS will reopen bids for the building on Nov. 20. He said there will be minimal restrictions on developers, which includes the option to demolish the high school.

“We really want to cast a wide net, so we really want to see what interest is out there,” Mulholland said. “We want it to be something that for the next 50 years continues to be an asset and a resource to bring investment to this community.”

The John Marshall campus is not subject to Indiana law, where charter schools have first option to buy the building for $1. That’s because all the charter school systems refused to buy the building when it first came on the market.

STOP | Indianapolis councilors make decisions on $1 million in funding ahead of deadline

Indianapolis councilors make decisions on $1 million in funding ahead of deadline