Illegal fireworks. Constant break ins. Trash in the streets.
That’s the view from the back of Nathan Scroggins’ home in the Bates-Hendricks neighborhood on the south side of Marion County. People have been breaking into the former Abraham Lincoln Public School 18 over the past few years and matters have only gotten worse.
He said some residents have even struggled to sell their homes because of the school’s condition.
“It has had an impact on every person who’s lived around here in some way or another,” Scroggins said. “It’s really hurt the quality of life on this side of the neighborhood.”
The former IPS school was purchased in February 2021 by Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, a local nonprofit that works to provide affordable homeownership opportunities. The property was under a purchase agreement with a developer in May 2021, with the goal of turning it into a 151-affordable housing unit by the end of 2023.
The developer walked away from the project in 2023, in part because it wasn’t cost effective to build affordable housing while maintaining the structure, according to the housing nonprofit’s staff. Since then, the property has sat vacant, attracting trespassers who have vandalized the building.
The property owners hope to demolish the school in the next three to four months in an attempt to attract developers.
Not everyone agrees with that approach. While some neighbors like Scroggins are ready to move on and demolish the building, others are holding onto memories made at the former school at 1001 E. Palmer St. They want to preserve the building.
Toni Rhoton said she was one of the first kids to participate in K.I.D.S. Inc., a faith-based community outreach program that provided services after acquiring the building in the late 1990s. She said the experience kept her out of trouble while making lifelong friends.
“It literally shaped an entire generation of children,” said Rhoton, who wants the building saved. “It shaped us in a way that we would have never had the opportunities we had without it.”
‘Human waste, used needles, vandalism’
The Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership bought the former school as part of the company’s transit-oriented development strategy. The nonprofit has purchased 17 properties in Marion County and works with developers to ensure the areas are turned into affordable housing.
Only three haven’t been sold to housing developers, though one is pending sale. Gina Miller, CEO and president of the housing nonprofit, said the Palmer Street location has been the most complicated structure the company has dealt with.
“The building’s in poor condition,” Miller said. “We’ve had ongoing issues with human waste, used needles, vandalism — a variety of safety hazards.”
Local community groups previously used the space, including a martial arts studio and a nonprofit focusing on mental health for youth. A charter school sometimes utilized the gym until frozen pipes burst and flooded the building in November 2022.
At that point, Miller said the building was deemed unusable.
“That summer of 2023 is when we really started struggling with just a constant flow of unauthorized entry, vandalism, break-ins,” Miller said. “And it’s just continued to be a challenge since then.”
Seven developers have been interested in the building, according to Miller, but they haven’t been able to finalize a deal.
In the meantime, the property continues to attract trespassers.
Miller said the company has been “really thorough and frequent” in its measures to secure the building and dissuade trespassing. Staff with the housing nonprofit have been visiting the site twice a week to check on its condition. They’ve also been installing security cameras and nailing wooden boards onto windows and doors.
In fact, the nonprofit recently welded a board to a door because nails weren’t strong enough to keep people out.
“We’ve had periods of time where we’ve had to re-board two or three times a week with people breaking in,” Miller said. “People will bring ladders and find ways to get up to the second floor.”
Staff said the company has spent more than $150,000 to maintain and secure the building, and anticipates losing more than $1 million largely due to debt, demolition, security, loss on sale and maintenance costs.
The company signed an agreement with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in June 2023, allowing officers to remove people from the property. Still, without full-time security, it’s hard to deter trespassers.
“The IMPD continues to work with the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership and the Bates-Hendricks Neighborhood to support long-term safety,” the department’s public affairs staff wrote in an email. “When calls for service are made to the former School 18, officers respond as they would to any report of suspicious activity, check the property for unauthorized individuals, and take the necessary enforcement action when appropriate.”
Preserving history
The school was built in 1901. Helen R. Lang, a former principal, led an initiative to install a limestone plaque on the building a few years later. It’s in honor of a sugar camp from the Delaware tribe that previously occupied the site in the 1800s.
Staff at the housing partnership have been working with residents to identify parts of the building that could be preserved, including plaques, stained glass windows and other historical artifacts. Staff were told by a demolition company in early October that people should not be inside the building due to asbestos.
People will be able to reenter the building to retrieve artifacts once the asbestos has been remediated.
An effort also is being made to save the building, though it’s unclear how strong the push is.
David Steele lived on Ringgold Avenue from 1954-1972, right across from School 18. While he no longer lives in the neighborhood, Steele has been trying to save the school he and his father attended.
In December 2022, Steele created an online petition to stop the building from being destroyed. It’s collected over 1,100 signatures as of October 2026, about three dozen of which occurred in the past few weeks.
Steele believes the housing corporation has been a negligent and irresponsible building owner. He said windows on the second floor of the building have been closed since the 1960s, but he noticed they were opened a few months ago, which he thinks was intentional.
“So the rain was going in the windows and that is a deliberate strategy to destroy the building,” Steele said. “And developers do that all the time so they can, what they call, scrape the property and start over.”
Miller said those accusations aren’t true and the building doesn’t have damage from water getting inside.
“We’ve been really thorough in maintaining and caring for the building,” Miller said. “There’s absolutely no merit to that accusation. It doesn’t behoove us to have the building further deteriorate.”
Gina Christofaro, former vice president and land use committee chair for the neighborhood, said the building shouldn’t be demolished because neighbors are upset or the housing nonprofit is struggling to find a developer. Christofaro, who now lives on the east side, said the property owners should work with Indiana Landmarks and other groups to find grants and assess the condition of the building.
“Unfortunately, sometimes old buildings have to be torn down and that’s the decision that’s made on a larger scale among the right people,” Christofaro said. “But before that happens, I think that everybody involved in this type of work within the city should do their due diligence to see, is this really the right move?”
Miller said they have checked with local, state and federal agencies to ensure the property doesn’t have a historical preservation designation.
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Mirror Indy reporter Elizabeth Gabriel covers the south side of Marion County. Contact her at elizabeth.gabriel@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X at @_elizabethgabs.
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