Center Township’s $28,000 James Whitcomb Riley School opened on Center Pike in 1914. The original structure displaced the District 2 schoolhouse, known as Conn, at the southwest corner of West McGalliard Road and North Walnut Street1. Muncie annexed the area surrounding the it after the 1928-29 school year, which left Eugene Field as Center Township’s only school.
In 1956, Riley received a $373,212 wrap-around addition featuring nine classrooms, two kindergarten rooms, an office suite, and a multipurpose room2. Along with Forest Park and McKinley, the school was closed in 1984. Its students were sent to Anthony and Washington-Carver elementary schools3. The 1914 portion of the school was torn down in 1985 before Center Township reopened the facility as a community center the following year4.
From 1993 to 2002, the remaining portion of the building acted as the Riley Alternative School before it became home to Action Headstart. In 2007, the former school became the temporary home of the Muncie’s Kennedy Library during a renovation project5. Subsequently, the building was used as a flea market and housed the Delaware Christian Academy from 2015 through 2019, when it was condemned6.
I’m not sure what purpose, if any, Center Township’s old Riley Elementary School serves today. At least it’s still home to one of Delaware County’s three remaining Thunderbolt sirens!
Sources Cited
1 Handsome New Building To Be Used Monday (1914, February 21). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 7.
2 Sears, E. (1956, May 26). New Riley School Addition Expected to Be Finished by Aug. 1. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 14.
3 Metzger, J. (1984, January 18). Forest Park Parents Upset by Proposal to Close School. The Muncie Star. p. 6.
4 Open house set for Riley Center (1986, March 4). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 7.
5 Boyd, O. (2008, February 10). Kennedy library reopens Feb. 14. The Muncie Star Press. p. 1
6 Slabaugh, S. (2019, March 24). Official defends condition of school. The Muncie Star Press. p. A1.
