The story of Crispus Attucks High School is one of resilience. Built in response to racist outcry over Blacks attending integrated schools, Crispus Attucks opened as Indianapolis’ only all-Black high school. Students in 1927 were greeted with second-hand desks and leftover school supplies. For years the school lacked basic facilities like a gymnasium.
Despite the lack of resources, the school named after a martyred ex-slave flourished. Famous alumni include a former U.S. Congresswoman, a former U.S. Army major general and numerous music and sports legends, such as NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.
The Crispus Attucks Legacy Project will ensure the school continues to enrich the lives of the Indianapolis’ Black community for generations. The project takes advantage of the school’s connections to nearby healthcare and sports organizations to create a hub for wellness with the addition of a new on-site community health clinic; new athletic facilities for Crispus Attucks’ storied sports teams; a public/private training facility; a museum; and a public café.
Access to quality and affordable primary care is a challenge within many inner-city communities. Urban Indianapolis is no exception. The Crispus Attucks Legacy Project offers a solution by placing a community health clinic on-site at the school.
In addition to providing much-needed physical and mental health care to students and the public, the clinic bolsters Crispus Attucks’ existing ties with Indiana University Health. The IU Health Fellowship prepares Crispus Attucks’ students for careers in healthcare and guarantees graduates a job within IU Health.
Through the on-site clinic, students in the fellowship would gain valuable firsthand experience treating and caring for patients. By placing learning spaces and a wellness + training center for use by students and patients adjacent to the clinic, the design helps draw more students into the IU Health Fellowship. This aspect is critically important, as a lack of minority caregivers in minority communities is a major factor in health disparities.
Basketball is king in Indiana, and few high school programs are as revered as the Crispus Attucks Tigers. In 1955, the Tigers became the first all-Black high school in the nation to win a state basketball championship. The Tigers would go on to win two more state titles within the decade. In 2017, a revived basketball program earned Crispus Attucks its fourth state championship.
The design honors the legacy of Crispus Attucks athletics with a new 2,500-seat multi-court basketball arena overlooking a new 2,000-seat track and field facility. An on-site wellness center and weight training facility for use by students further emphasizes the important role physical fitness plays in overall health and wellness. Wall graphics, photos and a lobby museum adjacent to the arena celebrate the storied history of Crispus Attucks sports and academics.
To remain viable now and into the future, the Crispus Attucks Legacy Project considers both environmental and economic sustainability.
Through adaptive reuse, the design transforms the school’s current gymnasium into the health clinic, wellness and training center, and new classroom and learning spaces. By reusing the existing building, the projects lowers the total embodied carbon of the project while reducing construction costs and time. The new arena, meanwhile, would feature expansive glass and shading to allow for energy-saving natural light and other green design features to reduce operational energy.
Economically, the design provides Crispus Attucks with sustaining new sources of income. The arena and track and field can be rented out for sports camps, tournaments and events like e-sports and concerts. The highly flexible museum lobby can be reconfigured to host receptions, conferences and meetings. Licensing and vendor rights from the café provide the school with an additional source of revenue.