A stage fills one side of the Dunlap gymnasium. Built in the style of the late 1930s and early 1940s, the gym features a full basketball floor with seating on the floor and balcony on one side. Opposite is the stage.
DUNLAP
If you listen closely you might hear echoes of the Dunlap gymnasium’s past mingled among the smell of fresh paint and a shiny new floor.
The gymnasium has undergone a major remodel after standing empty for a few years. It’s now ready to once again welcome the community as it did in its prime.
The gymnasium was built in 1939 as a government project authorized by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. It was built between the existing high school and elementary school. It functioned as a gym and cafeteria for the two schools. Jones Construction Co. was the contractor for the building, and W.F. Marx was the architect.
The building was built free-standing and was heated by hot water piped in from the high school.
The newly constructed gymnasium was deemed “the best gym in the county.”
The gym hosted county tournaments and saw teams from north Lyon County, Alma, Eskridge, Alta Vista, White City and several other towns in Morris County.
The Council Grove team would come and practice on the gym’s large basketball court, recalled Gail Lee, a longtime resident of the Dunlap area.
The gym saw its last basketball game around 1954.
The gym’s use dwindled following the closure of the high school around the early 1960s. In 1979, the grade school was closed after a tornado struck.
After schoolchildren no longer used the building, it was used as a community center and the Dunlap Men’s Brotherhood, who’s mission was to hold fundraisers and help the community with those funds, owned the building starting in 1980.
They used it for their meetings, their annual pancake feed and the area church used it for their fall festival each year.
The building also was used for various fundraisers and WIBW used it for a traveling road show, said Karen Allen, a nearby Dunlap resident. Watershed meetings also were held in the building.
In recent years, use of the building dwindled and finally stopped. It sat empty and fell into disrepair. Vandals broke into the building, the roof leaked and the building started to crumble.
Lee said the brotherhood had only four members left in it and decided to dissolve and deeded the building over to the Dunlap Fire District No. 9.
The money the brotherhood had left — about $11,000 was donated toward fixing the roof of the building.
Renovations of the building began in the fall of 2007 and are still ongoing but are about 90 percent done.
Renovations were a group effort between several community members including Lee, Dunlap Fire Chief Richard Allen and resident Melvin Whitaker and other volunteer fireman.
The Dunlap Fire Department has 17 firefighters — all volunteers, said Richard Allen, who has been on the department for about 25 years. The Dunlap Fire Department was established in 1963 and four of the original members still serve on it — Whitaker, Lee, Kenneth Whitaker and Dale Nielsen.
The volunteers had their work cut out for them when it came to renovating the Dunlap gymnasium. There were ceiling tiles missing, water damage throughout the building and the floors to be resurfaced. The bathrooms and kitchen had to be completely remodeled and the balcony seating stood in disrepair with piles of dust on the benches. A stairway leading up to the balcony had to be rebuilt due from water damage.
Courtesy Photo
Water damage and peeling stucco is evidence of how much work was needed when volunteers began restoring the old building.
A new double door was installed to replace the single door. Volunteers worked tirelessly to repair the building to restore it to its former glory. Volunteers did all the work from replacing the corroded plumbing to shining the wood court floors.
“The whole plan is to put it back into the community,” Richard Allen said, adding that the building will be used for fundraisers as well to help support its upkeep. “It’s been kinda an ongoing project.”
The building also can be used for fire department trainings, Allen said.
If weather permits, the building will welcome its first basketball tournament today. The area is the site for 3-on-3 basketball.
Next week it will welcome a carnival-type event to raise money. The public is welcome to attend the event from 5 to 8 p.m. April 4 at the Dunlap gym.
The proceeds will benefit the Dunlap Fire Department. Carnival games will include Lucky Ducky; Mystery Doors; pie/cake walk; Lollipop Tree; wheel of prizes; bean bag toss; fish pond; spider web and helium balloons. There will be raffles and gift certificates with more than 75 items being given away. There also will be a rummage sale and a pasta meal.
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