MILAN, IN — The Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum is looking to expand its footprint along Carr Street downtown through a $3 million Comprehensive Campaign.
“Two million will go toward an endowment that will provide a permanent, continual income stream for the museum,” said Tim Molinari, the museum’s Development Director and Special Projects Administrator.
He said the remaining $1 million will go toward the development of Legends Square.
“It’s across the street from the museum, and it will be an outdoor event space,” Molinari added. “It will be very artistic. It will have a barnyard theme, and you’ll be able to play basketball out there.”
Legends Square will be located where the Indiana Historical Bureau marker commemorating the 1954 state basketball championship “Milan Miracle” is located.
More than 200 people turned out for the historical marker dedication ceremony on March 26.
Among the attendees at the marker dedication were 1954 team members Bobby Plump, Gene White, Roger Schroder, and Rollin Cutter.
A key feature of Legends Square will be four life-size statues of the Pierceville Alley Cats: Plump, White, Schroder, and Glen Butte, who were the subjects of an iconic 1954 photo.
Plans also call for an event center and streetscape enhancements.
Molinari said they hope complete fundraising in the next year or two, with completion of the project within the next three years.
In addition, museum officials have upgraded the protection of the Milan ’54 artifacts.
The Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum has installed a state-of-the-art Fire Suppression System to protect some of Indiana’s most valuable sports memorabilia. This pre-action system provides 24-hour- a-day protection and is in response to the 2020 Thanksgiving Eve fire that destroyed the nearby Hog Rock Café in downtown Milan.
Funding for this $92,000.00 project was provided by a Heritage Support Grant from the Indiana Historical Society and made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc., as well as grants from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation and the Efroymson Family Fund.
“We are very thankful to all our funding partners on this project,” said Tom Kohlmeier President of Milan 54, Inc. “This is the largest project that we have undertaken since the museum opened in 2013. No matter how large of an insurance policy we may have, if a fire destroyed the museum, a very special part of Indiana’s sports heritage would be gone forever.”
The Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum contains the world’s largest collection of props and uniforms from the 1954 “Milan Miracle” and the movie “Hoosiers.”
For more about the Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum, visit milan54.org.
