INDIANAPOLIS — Earlier in the spring, staff at Christel House Manual High School were shocked to find their baseball facilities vandalized from thieves searching for copper wire.
"These were taken off. There was a big hole right here that we finally closed up and got the sinks working again. There was another big hole right here where the wiring and tubing was ripped out," said Nolan Dowling, athletic director at Christel House Indianapolis, as he showed where vandals struck.
Dowling walked through the vandalized bathroom where thieves destroyed sinks and toilets, hitting their concession stands and damaging the electrical panel, all in search of copper wire.
"And back here is our water heater and HVAC, which was pretty much ripped out," Dowling said.
"The toilets are gone, we can't use the bathroom," said Tony Huett, who plays right field for the baseball team.
"It's frustrating, obviously, because you have people that think, 'Oh, this facility benefits students and high school kids and middle school kids. Well let's destroy it anyway and get this stuff out of there,'" Dowling said. "And that's what's aggravating to me."
With no electricity, that's left the baseball team without a working scoreboard or lights on the field, pushing players off the field at dusk.
"I thought that was stupid because we can't play at night. We have to play until the sun goes down and the sun is going down before the game ends," Huett said.
Dowling said Christel House's partnership with IPS has allowed them to get help quickly, with work already underway to repair the damage and ensure it doesn't happen again.
“Just to see the turnaround they took into action was very promising and gave me hope and joy that they were willing to help out and make the life of the student athletes and families better," Dowling said.
Now, with just a few games left to play this season, students and staff are looking forward to the day where they can once again hit the field, with everything up and running.
"It'll be great for them to see and come in and see families smiling and enjoying themselves," Dowling said.
To help bring in money for the baseball facility repairs and the Christel House Indianapolis athletics programs, they're raffling off a 2023 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon as a fundraiser. Proceeds will go to support the student athletics program.
One raffle ticket costs $500 and three tickets go for $1,000. A minimum of 225 tickets must be sold for the drawing to take place. Only Indiana residents age 18 and older can join the raffle.
People can register to purchase raffle tickets by clicking here.