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OTTAWA – The Ottawa Auditorium at 715 E. Fourth St. has new owners.
Croy’s Mowing closed the building on Tuesday. He picked it up from the Ottawa-Glandorf school district for $ 70,000.
The building has a certain sentimental value for the patriarch of the Croy family, Don Croy.
“The reason I’m glad we bought this building is that four generations of my family have played here. My dad played high school basketball here. I played my basketball in college. My son Jeff played high school basketball and his oldest son Garrett played high school basketball here.
Don Croy said he was passionate about history and discovered an interesting fact that few Ottawa residents knew about.
“The gym floor is a pretty cool story because it’s the old Chicago Bulls gym floor. It was set up in 1993 and Michael Jordan actually performed on this floor, ”Don Croy said.
He even considered the possibility of doing something with the ground.
“There are mixed feelings. Maybe we could tear it up and sell the floor because it’s elementary gymnasium and besides Michael Jordan played on that floor, but I don’t think that’s what we’ll do. … It’s a bit of history and kind of interesting thing that a lot of people don’t know in town, ”Don Croy said.
So what kind of plans do the Croys have for the building that was built as part of a WPA project?
“Our initial plan is to make it a dry storage building. We wouldn’t do operations from here or anything like that. It would just be more for the winter stuff that would stay here in the summer and vice versa. But everything is an option right now, ”said Don’s son Lyle Croy.
The Croys pitched the idea of having a dodge ball league on the gym floor.
Currently, the building is zoned residential and the Croys are expected to appear before the planning committee to approve any potential changes.
Don’s other son, Jeff Croy, was excited to get down to business and help fix it.
“He has his problems. It is an old building. Obviously the roof is holding a bit of water and there are going to be some things to sort out, especially talking to the different people in the community who took care of it. It’s been around for a long time and there are some things that we absolutely need to improve and make it more appealing on the outside, ”said Jeff Croy.
Jeff, Don and Lyle Croy pose in front of their latest purchase, the Ottawa Auditorium. The gymnasium floor, installed in 1993, was taken from the old Chicago Stadium after Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won their second straight NBA title.
The interior of the Ottawa Auditorium is still in fair condition for its age.
The Ottawa Auditorium was built as part of a WPA project and has served the community for decades.
Contact Sam Shriver at 567-242-0409.
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