10 historic buildings at risk in Indiana

Museums are places that house and preserve bits of the past, but the Indiana Medical History Museum is having trouble preserving itself.

The museum built in 1895 as the pathology department at Central State Hospital, Indianapolis' long-shuttered psychiatric hospital on the Far Westside. It ceased being a pathology lab in 1955 and later was converted to a museum, a private nonprofit funded mostly by physicians and retired physicians.

The building is functional but in sad shape, and on Saturday it becomes the first museum to make the "10 Most Endangered" list released annually by Indiana Landmarks, the statewide preservation group.

At a glance the museum "doesn't appear to be in dire straits," said Landmarks Vice President Tina Connor, "but roof and foundation problems are manifesting themselves as interior damage."

The medical museum offers visitors a fascinating, intimate, frozen-in-time look at psychiatry. But the $10 ticket charge doesn't generate enough money to keep up a large, old building. (Though last year there was a small spike in attendance after some 60 jars of "human brain and tissue" were stolen from the museum's collection and offered for sale on eBay.)

Landmarks' "10 Most" list carries no legal weight. It's purely a way for preservations to sound the alarm. Landmarks has had good eleventh-hour success. Of the 106 historically significant structures that have made the list since its debut in 1991, 48 have been restored, and 16 others are being restored or have at least been stabilized.

In the last 12 months there's been some progress on seven of last year's "10 Most Endangered." In Anderson the city got a grant to figure out a plan for restoring a 1925 public swimming pool. In West Baden a group of Baptists plans to restore and reuse the "Colored Church" built in 1920.

The other Indianapolis building on Landmarks' 2015 "most endangered" list is the grand but long-troubled Rivoli Theater, 3155 10th St.

The Rivoli was built in 1927 and been dormant for decades. In the 1970s the Rivoli was used for rock shows. Among the performers: Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In the 1980s it devolved into a porno theater. It was the last one standing in Indianapolis when the city ordered it shut down in 1992.

The Rivoli is owned by a nonprofit group that hopes to turn it into a performing arts center. Last year the group raised money for a new roof, buying it time. But there is a long way to go, and fund raising has proved difficult.

Here are the eight other buildings on this year's 10 Most Endangered sites are:

• Former Odd Fellows Hall and United Brethren Block, Huntington, 1889: Three connected buildings on the courthouse square. The town's redevelopment commission has said a re-use plan needs to be in place by November or the buildings we be demolished.

• Former First Presbyterian Church and Lafayette Building, South Bend, 1888: The two buildings, side by side, across from the courthouse, face serious obstacles, including back taxes of more than $1 million.

• Camp Chesterfield, Chesterfield, home of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists, 1886: The movement, popular from the Civil War through the two World Wars, is based on communicating with the dead with the aid of skilled mediums. Chesterfield's numbers have dwindled (though mediums can still be found there), leaving many of the old buildings neglected.

• McCurdy Hotel, Evansville, 1917: The eight-story, U-shaped hotel counted Clark Gable and Richard Nixon among its guests. It later was converted to a nursing home. It has been vacant since 2010

• Elks Building, Bedford, 1917: With a full-sized gym and roof garden, this is one of the state's finest examples of Italian Renaissance Revival architecture. But as the Elks club dwindled in membership, they couldn't keep up with it. They donated it to a nonprofit group that is trying to find a new way to use the building.

• Mills House, Greenwood, 1955: A classic mid-century modern house designed by Indianapolis architect Harry Cooler for businessman Ernie Mills, an admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright. The house was long ago sold and now sits vacant with a leaking roof. "The owner, who now lives out of state, values the architecture of the house but he doesn't match his admiration with rehab action," says Mark Dollase, an Indiana Landmarks vice president.

• McDonald House, Attica, 1855: This 4,800-square-foot mansion was built by Attica power broker John D. McDonald and is now in an advanced state of decrepitude. But its staircase, fireplaces, woodwork and original windows remain.

• Indiana County Homes (examples in Floyd, Steuben, Parke, Warren, Randolph, Switzerland, Union and White counties): Before today's social safety nets, these late 19th century buildings were used to house the poor. They were sometimes called "poor farms" because they were surrounded by fields. The inhabitants were expected to work the land. Today the buildings are in decay.

Contact Star reporter Will Higgins at (317) 444-6043. Follow him on Twitter @WillRHiggins.