SILVER LAKE - After 75 minutes of discussion and "brainstorming" Saturday, three main ideas for Silver Lake Elementary School were generated at the design charette.

The approximate 20 members of the public present and six Indiana architects then divided into three groups to formulate designs for those ideas. The three possibilities for the school including turning Silver Lake Elementary into a residential center, a community center or a commercial center.

The Northern Indiana Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, in conjunction with Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, held the all-day design charette to come up with ideas for the school building. The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization of architects. The Northern Chapter does at least one community project a year. Local architect Mary Ellen Rudisel-Jordan, president-elect of the Northern Chapter, knew of the closed Silver Lake school and took it to the Chapter for consideration.

If the school became a commercial center, American Institute of Architects state secretary Tim Wall, South Bend, said during his group's presentation, it would be a "business incubator." Businesses could start in the school building and then when they needed to grow, they might move out and another business could move in. Businesses would not be shops, but offices for accountants, doctors, attorneys, etc.

The main level of the floor would include the management group offices, with perhaps a kitchen-based business using the kitchen area. There would be some storage and mechanical space. The school would need an elevator that stopped at all the floors.

The middle floor would have a daycare, perhaps just for the business tenants. A police sub-station could be housed in the building. The gym and stage could be retained for the community.

The third floor would be for all the business tenants.

"The businesses would be mutually supportive," said Wall.

Notre Dame Professor Don Sporleder, AIA fellow, explained how his group thought the school could become a community center.

"The key thing was the fact that the building itself can do most of the job that needs to be done," he said. "The building is still in good shape."

The facilities would have to be accessible to all and the historic aspects of the school kept intact. The roof does have some issues, he said, which need to be addressed rather quickly regardless of what the school becomes.

The building could use a geo-thermal heating system.

The school's gym could be used as a music venue. A daycare center in the building could help pay for events in the gym. An elevator would need to be included in the planning as well as the development of a ramping system.

The third floor of the school could be addressed as there is money to pay for it.

Also, on the first floor, a cyber cafe could be put in. The second floor could include the Lake Township and town clerk-treasurer offices.

"Your township, your town, right here accessible to all!" he said.

The third floor could have meeting, training and class rooms and a library.

The third idea for Silver Lake Elementary's future use was presented by Ron Searcy, AIA president.

If the school became a residential building, the boiler would be eliminated, but the gymnasium would remain.

"It's a great space," said Searcy. "Let's use it as we can."

The kitchen could be used for receptions, etc., while the space under the stairs could store the HVAC systems.

The first floor also could have a computer room and library for public/tenant use. New restrooms would need to be installed. An elevator for access to all floors also would be needed.

The second floor could include a couple of generous two-bedroom units plus a few one-bedroom units.

The housing would be for senior citizens 55 years old or older.

The third floor would have about six one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units. The third floor could be varied.

Rudisel-Jordan said there could be space set aside for amenities for the residents, such as beauty and barber shops, pharmacy, etc.

For the design of turning the school into a residential community, she said no classrooms would be cut up, they just would be partitioned.

Jim Smith, AIA member from Crown Point, does restoration work. After the presentations were made, he said all the schemes should give the community hope that there is a lot of life left in the building. It will take energy and people willing to put an organization together to take the project on. The first step is to form a 501c3 foundation.

"You will need that to have a place for people to send money to," Smith said. They are not hard to set up.

Immediately, he said, the town needs to set up a Chamber of Commerce so local industry and businesses can work together.

"Whatever scheme you pick out," he said. "The very first thing you're going to have to do is put an organization together."

Wall said the AIA will take all the designs and notes back with them, shrink them down, and put them into a report for Silver Lake's use.

"This is the kind of thing we probably should have been doing a couple of years before we closed the school," said Warsaw Community Schools Board President Ron Yeiter of the design charette. He said it will take community effort to make something happen.

After agreeing with Yeiter, school board secretary Gene England said, "I'm hoping something comes out of this."

Silver Lake Town Clerk-Treasurer Angie Glass said, "I think it's wonderful. Now the hard part starts as to what we're going to do." Funding, she said, will be important, but hopefully they can receive grants and donations to help pay for it.

Silver Lake Elementary School was completed in 1930 and is an example of Art Deco architecture. The school, along with Atwood and Claypool, was closed by the Warsaw School Board in 2004. The school board is allowing the school to be studied for a year to determine alternate uses for the school. If none are found, it likely will be demolished. [[In-content Ad]]