Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 61, Number 93, Decatur, Adams County, 19 April 1963 — Page 1

VOL. LXI NO. 93.

New Decatur High School Planned, • . ■ ■ _ • ‘ ~ • ** ■ . I— <( ", Sign Option On Bellmont Park Area

Entirely New School Plant To Be Built In Area East Os Decatur

The Decatur public school board and Dr. Roland L. Reppert, M. D„ have signed an option for the school city to purchase the approximately 90 acres of the Bellmont park area for SIIO,OOO, it was announced today. Tentative plans call for the construction of a new high school, science lab, vocational area, etc., for tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades in the area. No Added Taxes The school city, through its present building fund, will be able to purchase the land for cash this year. In addition, they hope to be able to build the entirely new school plant on a pay-as-you-go basis, from the present building fund, without bonding or creating a new bonding corporation. The purchase price amounts to about $1,200 an acre. It was by far the best priee trftered to the school city for any site of 20 acres or over adjacent to the city. Area Involved Generally, the new school area is bounded on three sides by highway 224, by the Piqua road, and by Monroe street extended. Excluded from the purchase is a point of land where 224 intersects the Piqua, the Ivan Hakes home, about five acres for the Reppert auction school (wjth option to purchase in 10 years), the homes and business sites between highway 224 and Ogg street, and the private homes along Monroe street extended, and the corner where Monroe street extended intersects the Piqua road. Included in the site are four homes including Dr- Reppert’s Bellmont Lake, Bellmont cabins, frontage on all three roads, and the major part of the old Steele park. Why More Schools? “The present high school facili-

-■ ~y.~.- ~u» n t. — ■ _ ... W’ ■ ,H/ W*' 'ftftftft**%*-ft,* 1,4 ■ • v!—^nag^atf^fctM^.W^ * . \ «?IE wHt *4; -' .• TsgOft W< X bi 1 SAI .'. •.■■< r TrMhft 48 ■ " . ; IwJKt .r '- I jft Jfcjß JHhm| ■uHf <j*a| ■ ■ » xJa : ?' / IS ■■- n I ’ ’ SefEa: JEMpv*F•/«& HRme. NEW SCHOOL LAND lies in the triangle pictured above, formed by highway 224 on the upper left, the Piqua road on the upper right, and Monroe street extended east on the pfcta£. TOe la7d touches Stratton Place: and will be inerted to the city there. None of he land purchased is on tow ground The schoolboard hopes to buy tire land and build any buildings there by use of the present 75c building fund, without raising taxes. This was least expensive and most usable site av I ble.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

ties do not offer adequate facilities for improved technical offerings, so important to youth today,” Gail Grabill. superintendent of schools, stated as he made the announcement in behalf of the Decatur school board. “A much-im-proved science laboratory, for chemistry, physics, and applied! mathmatics, vocational shop and agriculture, mechanical training, etc., wil be possible in the new area.” Three Years Away It will probably be about three years before building can start, and undoubtedly, unless a crash program is indicated, the new school will be built a wing at a time. Probably no present high school student will use the new building. When the new hfgh school is completed, the present junior high would be up-graded to include -the seventh, eighth and ninth grades, and would be moved from the Lincoln school site to the present Decatur high school site. Legal Requirements Announcement of the agreement between the school city and Dr. Reppert was held up while a codicil was added to the original contract, absolving the school city from payment if approval of the site is denied by either toe state department of public instruction or the state department of health; both must approve the site. First of all, the site must be large enough for the school system. The state requires an absolute minimum, .for new construction of lO acres, plus one acre, for each 100 pupils over 300. The city school board itself set a minimum of 20 acres when studying various proposals. The nearest to the $1,200 an acre site was around $2,000 an

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acre, and they ranged upward from that. Availability of electric power, water, and sewage disposal are also requirement. While the present site is outside the city limits, it is adjacent to the • city at Stratton Place, and it is the intention of the school board to petition the city to extend the city limits to include the school-owned land. The petition will not cover the homes and business now operating in the area outside the city. Use of Lake The Bellmont Lake area is included in the purchase, and present restrictions on its use will be continued, because of the liability of the school city for the area. Eventually, the possibility exists that the area could be used for civic reereation, such as for scouting, etc. r . Tbe purchased area is much higher than the surrounding land, and well above high water level, Grabill pointed out. During high water times, the St. Mary’s river, which forms a bend or meander, around Stratton Place, backs, up behind the Erie railroad bridge, and cuts across the bend. The water enters the field owned by Robert H. Heller behind Stratton place, across Monroe street extended where the excluded houses are, and floods on the west side of Ogg street, eventually crossing highway 224 south of Mcßride’s, and entering the river again. When this happens, high water crosses the road, but only rarely, once -a decade, or so, does it actually stow traffic. , * Transportation The city school board has discussed the problem of transportation of city, as well as rural, students, and will probably provide

Decatur, Indiana, Friday, April 19,1963.

transportation from pickup points in the city for those living farthest from the school site. Members of the school board who completed the plans for the new site, underway for some time, are Dr. James Burk, president; Herbert Banning, and Richard Macklin. Robert H. Heller, real estate broker, handled.the transaction for Dr. Reppert. Since the present building fund expires this year, the new school plans will necessitate including the present 75 cents in the budget request for the coming year. Best Available Site “Os course,” Grabill pointed out, “even the best new high school will not totally utilize all of the land purchased. Plenty of parking area, to take the pressure off other city areas where school parking is now located, plenty of room for all types of educational expansion, from a junior college extension, gymasium, indoor swimming pool, post-graduate adult courses, courses for dropouts, etc., will all be possible. But future school boards will have to plan these things in conjunction with the needs and wishes of the public.” “No doubt there will be some criticism of the location by those who have business interests or homes or churches in other areas of the city. But the availability, at a reasonable price, of the land, the tremendous expansion in this area, and availability of housing land for future expansion, led to the purchase agreement by the board,” he concluded. “It is the best piece of land we could get at a reasonable price, and we all definitely feel that it will provide more benefits for each dollar expanded for the children and for the taypayers of the Decatiir school system than any other site.”

To Continue Grades At Pleasant Mills The Adams Central school board today announced it had reconsidered its recent order closing the entire Pleasant Mills school at the end of the present school term next month. Instead, .the board announced, the elementary grade school will be continued next fall, with only the high school and junior high ’school students from Pleasant Mills attending classes at the Adams Central school. The board has announced March 13 that it would close the entirePleasant Mills school, beginning with the 1963-64 school year. However, today’s announcement means that the students in the first six grades in St. Mary’s township will continue to attend the Pleasant Mills school. The Pleasaht Mills ■ school has been a part of the Adams Central system since the reorganization plan became effective last summer for the Adams Central con> munity schools. Edwin F. Dornseil Is Taken By Death Edwin F. Dornseif*' 76, of 714 West Superior street. Fort Wayne, former Adams county resident, died at 4:05 o’clock Thursday afternoon at St. Joseph’s hospital, where he had been a patient one month. Mr. Dornseif was employed for <f number of years in the job printing department of the Decatur Daily Democrat before moving to Fort Wayne. He had been employed as a maintenance man at the St. Joseph’s hospital for several years. Mr. Dornseif was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran church. Survivors include a brother, Walter L. Dornseif of Fort Wayne; a sister, Mrs. Ludmilla Witte of Handsboro, Miss., and several nieces and nephews. Funeral rites will be held at 1:30 p. m. Saturday at the Klaehn funeral home, the Rev. Edwin A. Nerger officiating. Burial will be in Lindenwood cemetery- Friends may call at the funeral home until time of the services.

; - in ./ - ’ - C \ \ /s S Vu . X*"' jr J z / 4 WILDCAT KICKOFF— “Mr. Mac” speaks to the large crowd attending the Wildcat League kickoff meeting Thursday evening at the Youth and Community Center. “Mr. Mac” founded the league in Fort Wayne in the summer of 1961. Also shown above, left to right, are Lowell Harper Rotary acting president; Norman Steury, Lions president and a member of the board of directors’of the Wildcat association here; Mayor Donald F. Gage, master of ceremonies; “Mr. Mac,” Car] Braun commissioner of the newly-formed local league; and Gene Ry dell, head of the Decatur Chamber of’Commerce. —(Photo by Mac Lean)

Wildcat Loop Fund Launched Here Thursday

A total of $2,078.75 in cash and pledges, plus a promise to match on a $1 for every $3 raised basis fro mthe Central Soya company, was raised Thursday night toward a goal of $4,800 to get the Decatur Wildcat League association started, Carl A. Braun, commissioner, announced today. A large crowd gathered at the local Youth and Community Center Thursday evening to hear “Mr. Mac" formally “pitchout”’ the Wildcat League baseball program in Decatur. .... Soya Pledge „ Cash contributions amounted to $589.75, plus pledges 0 f $1,489 from those present, Arthur Heimann, trasurer, said today. The Central Soya company announced, through Decatur plant manager Tom H. Allwein, that they will gilfe $1 for every $3 raised, up to $1,200 maximum gift. Thus, if the people of Decatur can raise $3,600, Central Soya will give an additional $1,200, for a total of $4,800 to get the Decatur Wildcat League started. Purpose of the league is to provide organized recreation and training for those boys who do not make the other teams in the summer leagues. A number of dignitaries from the Fort Wayne Wildcat League, including “Mr. Mac,” D. W. McMillen, Sr., founder of the program in Fort Wayne, were present. Also attending were Bill Bower, president o fthe Wildcat recreation association, and Terry Coonan, the Fort Wayne league‘s full-time commissioner. Parade First At 5:30 p.m. the steam calliope owned by the Adams county Shrine association, and played by Charles Castor, headed by the Decatur police department in a police car, started a parade of Wildcatters through Decatur. The founder, “Mr. Mac,” rode in the lead convertible with Mayor Donald F. Gage, host for the program. Between them rode James Zoss, who was a Wildcat player in Fort Wayne before he moved to Decatur. His father, Bill Zoss, of Zoss Chevrolet-Buick, drove the “Wildcat’ sports convertible. A dozen Decatur boys, dressed in Wildcat shirts and caps, rode in the following parade, in convertibles and on the calliope. The parade wended from Zoss Chevrolet to Monroe street, east to Second, south to Adams, east to First, north to Jackson, west to Second, south to Monroe, and east to the

center. Gage Emcee Mayor Donald F. Gage acted as master of ceremonies of the program, and Rev. William C. Feller, pastor of the Zion United Church of Christ in Decatur, gave the invocation and benediction. “Mr. Mac” spoke to the large audience and asked for the cooperation and suppoit of all Decatur and area citizens to support the program in Decatur. * Purpose of the meeting which was preceded by a parade through downtown Decatur, was to introduce the substance and meaning of Wildcat League play to the people of Decatur. Through “Mr. Mac’, Bower. Coonan and a film that was shown, the philosophy of Wildcatting was explained, including such principles as placing every boy between B’i and 15 years of age on a team and giving each boy the opportunity to play in each game. The motto of the Wildcat League, “Everybody makes the team" was brought out many times by the organizers and league instructors. Give $560 Twenty-two Decatur residents who helped and worked with “Mr. Mac” in starting the Central Sugar Co. in this city three decades age, were present as a group, and contributed SSOO to the Decatur Wildcat League. Heads of the Decatur Wildcat League, organized last week, were (Continued on Page Two) INDIANA WEATHER Partly cloudy and cooler tonight. Saturday partly sunny 4 and mild. Low tonight in the 40s north, 48 to 56 south. High Saturday 64 to 70. Sunset today 7:27 p. m. Sunrise Saturday 6:01 a. m. Outlook for Sunday: Partly cloudy and warmer. Chance of showers 5 late Sunday. Lows 47 to 54. Highs in the 70s. Decatur Temperature Local weather data for the 21 hour period ending at 11 a.m. today. 12 noon 58 12 midnight .. 61 1 p.m. 56 1 a.mv 52 a p.m. 5« 2 a.m s’ 3 p.m. .< ... 58 3 a.m. ' 58 4 p.m. ... 59 4a m 58 5 p.m 56 5 a.m. 58 6 p.m -54 6 a.m 57 7 p.m 52 7a im 5r 8 p.m- 51 8 a.msß 9_p.ni. 50 9- am- n’ in p.m. .... 50 10 a.m62 It p.m. 51 11 am 60 Rain Total for the 24 hour period endins at 7 am. today, .0 inches. The St. Mary's river was at 1.60 feet. ■ ", • ,-

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Ed P. Miller, Veteran Law Officer, Dies 9 \l Edward P. Miller Edward P. Miller, 74, well known veteran law enforcement officer, a former Adams county sheriff and former Decatur police chief, died at 4:30 o’clock Thursday afternoon at his home, 334 Winchester street. He had been seriously ill for the past four months and in critical condition for several weeks. Mr. Miller, a lifelong resident of Adams county, joined the Decatur police force Jan. 1, 1931, serving until Dec. 31, 1938. He was elected sheriff of Adams county in the fall of 1938 on thg Democratic ticket, and was reelected in 1940, serving four years. He then returned to the city police force Jan. 1, 1943, and served until retiring June 1, 1956. He served as chief of police from 1943 to 1947. Born in Washington township Feb._5,1889. he was a son of Paul and Mary Geimer-Miller. and he was married to Miss Gertrude Ulman June 7, 1916. — Mr. Miller was a member of St. Mary's Catholic church, the Holy Name society, and 'the Fraternal Order of Police. Surviving in addition to his wife gte three daughters, Miss Rosemary Miller, at home, Mrs. Paul C. (Mildred) Gross and Mrs. Robert (Ethel) Bolinger, both of Decatur: nine grandchildren: three brothers, Leo and Leonard Miller, both of Fort Wayne, and Anthony Miller of Kalamazoo, Mich., and two sisters, Mrs. Gertrude Markley of ForLWayne, and Mrs. Jacob Heiman of Decatur. Three sisters and, two brothers are deceased.. Funeral services “will be conducted at 9:15 a. m. Monday at St. Mary’s Catholic church, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Simeon Schmitt officiating. Burial will be in the Catholic cemetery. Friends may call at the Zwick funeral home after 7 p. m. Saturday until time of the services. The Holy Name society will recite the rosary at 8 p. m. Sunday.