Butler University and typhoid fever. Irvington's Bona Thompson building has storied past

At the intersection of University and Downey Avenues in Irvington sits a pale brick building with tall Grecian-like columns at the entrance.

It seems out of place, this building tucked in a residential neighborhood, but it has been in Irvington for more than a century.

The Bona Thompson Memorial Center today is home to the Irvington Historical Society, but the building, which opened in 1903, has lived many lives that reflect Irvington’s history.

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This month, the historical society will celebrate 20 years since it completed renovations of the Bona Thompson Memorial Center. Art and historical exhibits are often on display at the building.

“Irvington, it’s always been a very tight-knit community,” said Irvington Historical Society board member Don Flick, an architect who completed the renovations on the building. “Way, way back there was maybe a town hall, but … for decades and decades, there hadn’t been a community center… The Bona Thompson after our renovation became that kind of community center.”

Butler University

Butler University opened in Irvington in 1875. As the campus grew, university leadership wanted a library, said Paul Diebold, an Irvington Historical Society board member.

The library came to be, thanks to the family of an alumna, but it was constructed under sad circumstances, Diebold said.

After Bona Thompson graduated from Butler in 1897, she took a “grand tour of Europe” where she contracted typhoid fever, Diebold said. She returned to the U.S. but died in her family home in Irvington.

“The family donated the funds for the library in memory, rather than a sculpture or a building,” Diebold said. “They decided, OK, a library is really what the campus needs. So they donated $40,000. Believe it or not, $40,000 built and equipped the Bona Thompson library at that time.”

The library opened in 1903, but Bona Thompson’s parents both died during construction, Diebold said.

After the Bona Thompson library opened, it served as a branch location for the Indianapolis library system as well as Butler University's library, Diebold said.

The building remained Butler’s library until spring 1928 when the university moved to its current location in Indianapolis.

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Disciples of Christ

When Butler left Irvington, the Bona Thompson library stood vacant for some time. Most of the Butler campus was eventually torn down, but the Bona Thompson building remained.

The College of Missions, which was affiliated with the Disciples of Christ, focused on missionary training for students when Butler was in Irvington. The two schools were related institutions and students could take classes at either school, Flick said.

The College of Missions moved to Connecticut when Butler left Irvington in 1928. It was an opportunity for the Disciples of Christ, Flick said.

The Disciples of Christ purchased the Bona Thompson building in the 1940s, making Irvington its national headquarters, Flick said.

“It had been vacant for a good bit of time, so they purchased it and gave it a new name, Diebold said.

The Disciples of Christ vacated the building in the mid-1990s and moved their headquarters to Washington Street in downtown Indianapolis, Diebold said.

Irvington Historical Society

For a second time in its history, the Bona Thompson building remained vacant. And again, there were talks of tearing it down, Diebold said.

That’s when the Irvington Historical Society and other community members came together to focus on rehabilitating the building, Diebold said.

The Irvington Historical Society, which did not have a designated headquarters in the late 1990s, eventually secured a lease for the building, Diebold said. The society owns the Bona Thompson Memorial Center today.

Foresighted board members of the Irvington Historical Society began collecting art from a group of Irvington artists who were a subset of the Indiana School of Art, Diebold said. The art includes pieces by William Forsyth, Diebold said.

“We had some nice pieces,” Diebold said. “Part of the idea was, you know, can we better display them and serve the community by having this building? Can we better offer services to the community?”

Diebold wrote grants for the project and Flick formed plans and specifications for the rehabilitation.

“We raised, over the course of a couple years, a million dollars to rehab the inside,” Diebold said. “The Disciples of Christ, they understood the value of the exteriors. They largely didn’t change the exterior, but there was no sense of preserving the interior.”

Renovations included removing asbestos tiles, which uncovered mosaic flooring, Flick said. Workers also removed two-thirds of an attic floor, leaving a balcony in the building, he said.

The Bona Thompson Memorial Center opened back up to the community in October 2002. Since then, the center has been the location of events such as weddings, wakes and art exhibits, Diebold said.

Rooms in the center will show historical displays while others will exhibit more contemporary art, Diebold said.

“We feel that part of the mission of the building is to be a patron to the current culture that is going on in Irvington that continues that tradition of the past,” Diebold said.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Irvington's Bona Thompson Memorial Center has storied history