Bloomington High School’s Robert Frank Sports Complex, commonly referred to as “The Frank”, is a holdover from the days when civic pride was often behind the design of the local high school’s gyms & football fields.
The Frank is the rare high school venue that has an interior and exterior aesthetic to it. The gentle curvature of the roof beams, that extend outside the building, to the curved floor to ceiling glass windows that line the north side of the facility, letting in natural light, but never direct sunlight. There’s even a beautiful symmetry between the conference championship banners and local sponsorship banners.
This A Sports Arena, Not A Gym
There are few high school basketball courts in the state, or the country for that matter, that calling them a gym would be a disservice. The Frank truly deserves to be called a sports arena. Built in 1959 the building has a slight arch, with 10 large-metal I beams the protrude from the east & west sides of the building creating a sloping cantilever overhang.
With the playing surface below ground, all fans enter at ground level and head directly to seating in the upper section, or make their way down stairs at all four corners of the floor so they can sit court-side. A sliding wall is hidden away towards the south end of the main level. Both west and east sides can be turned into separate playing areas when the bleachers are retracted against the wall.
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