People with a vision for the future of historic Gary Roosevelt High School can share their ideas at a community input meeting from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Gary Area Career Center, 1800 E. 35th Ave.

The school, built for Gary’s Black population during the segregation era in the 1920s, remains the pride of the community despite being closed since 2019.

Owned by the Gary Community School Corp., Roosevelt has remained vacant, although with 24-hour security. Officials said it faces an estimated $20 million in repair costs, and its environmental assessment hasn’t been completed yet.

In 2023, a coalition including the Gary East Side Community Development Corporation, the National Gary Theodore Roosevelt Alumni Association, Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation Program, and other key partners began exploring reuse strategies for the school at 730 W. 25th Ave.

Last year, Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation Program successfully nominated Roosevelt to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2024 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

Indiana Landmarks provided $7,750 for design work, and the exploration of community engagement for the school’s reuse.

Eunice Trotter, Black Heritage Preservation Program director, said on Saturday that audience members will meet in small groups to share their ideas for Roosevelt.

“We are all ears. We are listening to what the community wants,” Trotter said.

She tossed out some examples. “Gary needs a hotel. They’re in a food desert. ... We know the school system needs a central administration site. It’s a great auditorium and there’s great kitchen space.”

She said a vision could turn toward senior housing or condo units and possibly Indiana University Northwest could use the athletic fields.

“These are just ideas. We have to be grounded in reality,” Trotter said.

She said there’s space inside the school for a museum chronicling its history as one of just three Indiana schools built for Black students. Only Roosevelt and Crispus Attucks in Indianapolis remain.

The school’s alumni group had previously endorsed a museum and the display of its dozens of state trophies and other honors.

“It was for us,” said Judy Mead, president of the National Theodore Roosevelt Association in an interview last year on the school’s creation. “They were busy trying to keep us confined,” she said of city leaders’ early attempts to keep Blacks restricted to the area known as Midtown.

“Gary has been victimized and traumatized,” Trotter said. “We are not here to continue that victimization. We are here to save Gary Roosevelt High School.”

After Saturday’s engagement session, a report will be created that shows what the consensus was regarding the school’s future.

Trotter said there will be a public meeting to bring developers to the table to discuss uses with the best potential for success.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.