Republic building home for new architecture program

The former Republic building in downtown Columbus will now be the home for Indiana University’s new J. Irwin Miller Program in Architecture. The school made the announcement last night.

The building, designed by the same firm that created the Sears Tower, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, was built in 1971 and designated a historic landmark in 2012. The glass and steel building sits at the corner of Second and Washington Streets across from City Hall and the Bartholomew County Courthouse.

After Home News Enterprises sold its newspaper holdings, the Brown family sold the building to Columbus Regional Health in 2016. It was used as newspaper offices until the Republic moved to National Road. Since then, the building has been vacant.

The Community Education Coalition in Columbus has agreed to pay renovation costs for the building and the IU master’s in architecture program will launch this fall.

Former Cummins CEO Miller was a major proponent of top-notch architecture and was the force behind the Cummins Foundation which paid the architectural fees for buildings in the community.

“It is fitting that IU’s new Master of Architecture program is named after J. Irwin Miller, a true visionary whose plan to revitalize Columbus helped turn the city into a work of art,” said Lauren Robel, IU Bloomington provost and executive vice president. “It is our hope that his legacy of innovation will inspire our faculty and students as the program grows, spreading innovative design and beauty throughout the state.”

IU President Michael McRobbie and his wife, Laurie Burns McRobbie, announced that they were pledging half a million dollars to endow a professorship in modern architecture in the School of Art, Architecture + Design.