Milan '54 Hoosiers Museum Announce Plans for Legends Square, Event Center

The goal is to make Milan a basketball campus open to the public.

Rendering of the Milan '54 Hoosiers Museum Legends Square. Photo provided.

(Milan, Ind.) – Some exciting projects are in the works to add to the basketball legacy in Milan.

Tom Kolhmeier, the president of the board of directors at the Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum, sent out a newsletter on Tuesday that highlights some of those plans.

One project that is already underway is the building of a full-size outdoor basketball court across the street from the museum on W. Carr Street.

It will have statutes of the 1954 players surrounding the court and will be used to host several events for the public. Other design features include a barn backwall, barnwood and stone sidewall, textured stone concrete, and life-sized statues of the Pierceville Alleycats: Bobby Plump, Gene White, Roger Schroder and Glen Butte.  

Total cost for the development of the Legends Square is $350,000.

“We are hoping to acquire a building to house a Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum Event Center,” said Kolhmeier. “We want to make Milan a basketball campus open to the public.”

The event center is estimated to cost $400,000 and would be located adjacent to the Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum. Plans for the facility include a large space with a recreated basketball floor that can be divided into smaller, more intimate spaces. Included in this project will be a Milan 54 themed lobby, audio and video equipment, a pantry, kitchen and restroom facilities.

The proposed Milan '54 Hoosiers Museum Event Center. Photo provided.

To further the basketball them, the Town of Milan in collaboration with Milan’ 54, Inc. have developed a plan to outline Milan’s Basketball District with decorative black Shepard’s-hook old-style streetlights whose globes will resemble basketballs.

The streetlights will be adorned hanging flower baskets and banners. The plan is to have the first 20 lights installed over the summer of 2023.

Streetlight rendering. Photo provided. 

Other plans include museum renovations and the establishment of the Roselyn McKittrick Endowment Fund. In total, the Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum’s comprehensive campaign totals $3 million.

For more information, visit https://milan54.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/11x17-Milan-Capital-Inside.pdf.