Ownership move delayed for Anderson’s Wigwam gym

Anderson officials are pushing back their timeline for the possible ownership transfer of the city's closed Wigwam gymnasium.

Leaders of the private Wigwam Sports & Entertainment group are scheduled to present their proposal for reusing the 9,000-seat gym to the city Redevelopment Commission on Tuesday.

Deputy economic development director Michael Frischkorn told The Herald Bulletin the commission won't be ready as planned to seek ownership transfer on June 10 from the Anderson School Board. He said work is still being done on a property appraisal and environmental study of the property.

Frischkorn says those should be done by the end of June. That's the deadline school officials have set to avoid possible demolition of the gym, which was closed in 2011 as a cost-cutting move.

The Wigwam was built in 1962, and the only larger high school gym in the country is the Fieldhouse in nearby New Castle.