The old Madison Elementary School on North Union Street may be gone, but Madison Park will help keep its memory alive.
Tuesday, the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department had a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce for Madison Park, which is next to the Downtown Warsaw YMCA. Both the park and the YMCA building are on property where the elementary school once sat, with the YMCA occupying the former school gymnasium. The Grove housing addition also is on the property.
A large mural by muralist Chris Catalogna on the Downtown Warsaw YMCA building, which was recently completed, also celebrates the old Madison Elementary School. AkzoNobel partnered with Main Street Warsaw, Warsaw Public Arts Commission and Clearly Kosciusko to create a 2,100-square-foot mural on the building located at 576 W. Fort Wayne St., Warsaw.
At Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, Warsaw Parks Superintendent Larry Plummer talked about how the parks department has wanted to have a park on the west side of town as part of its master plan. Thankfully, he said, the Groninger family donated not only the land for the pocket park, but also the playground equipment.
“Neighborhood parks seem to be a big hit with residents,” Plummer said in a telephone interview.
When the old Madison school was removed, including the playground, neighborhood kids didn’t have a nearby park to play in. The new Madison Park, which is the city of Warsaw’s 20th, changes all of that.
Plummer said the park is sure to bring back people’s memories of the times they had at the school, as it does him. Naming the park after the school just seemed like a good idea to both Plummer and Cary Groninger.
In 1954, the new school building at 201 N. Union St. was dedicated and the old one torn down. Built directly behind the old location, the single-story brick building had a main hallway and what served as both the gym and cafeteria for many years. In 1968, a library and classroom were added on, as well as a wing on the east and west sides of the building. In 1999, a gym was added, a bus turn-around was put in and the kitchen was enlarged.
As the 2009-10 school year closed, it was also the last year for Madison Elementary to be at the 201 N. Union St. location. A new Madison was built at 1436 W. CR 300N, Warsaw, and classes began at that location in fall 2010.
The former Madison site became Gateway Education Center. The Gateway Education Center was closed at the end of the 2019-20 school year due to the cost of the expected repairs.