Stage without a home: Platform in Ind. school where James Dean’s career began goes up for sale

For sale: Stage where James Dean’s career began

FAIRMOUNT, Ind. — The stage in a long-closed central Indiana high school where James Dean first performed is up for sale.

The group that owns the dilapidated Fairmount High School hopes to find a buyer to salvage the stage as it works on plans to demolish the building.

Madison-Grant Youth Basketball League treasurer Matt Patton says the group doesn’t know how much the stage might be worth. The league has considered selling the auditorium chairs, but Patton says they’re connected and would have to be sold as entire rows.

Dean grew up on a farm near Fairmount and graduated from the high school in 1949. He landed his iconic role in “Rebel Without a Cause” before his death at age 24 in a 1955 California car crash.

Information from: Chronicle-Tribune, www.chronicle-tribune.com