As far back as 1915, the City of Columbus had floated the idea of buying Indianola and operating it as a city park. Over the years the proposal had come up again and again but, for one reason or another, it never came to pass. In 1927, the park's needs and the city's interest finally intersected.

On September 2, 1927, the Columbus Board of Education approved the purchase of the northern half of Indianola Park for the construction of a new junior high school. Contracts were bid that October and construction of the $400,000 ($4.6 million in 2006 dollars) building began before winter.

The new school opened in September 1929 and remained in operation for the next 81 years, closing in 2010.

East view of the new school, Columbus Citizen, September 3, 1927

The new Indianola Junior High School was designed by Columbus architect Howard Dwight Smith (1886-1958), who was architect for the Columbus Board of Education at the time.

Smith is best known for designing Ohio Stadium on the Ohio State campus but he is also responsible for a number of other early Twentieth Century landmarks in Columbus. Smith designed the Orton Ceramic Institute, the Deshler Hotel, First Congregational Church, and more than a score of buildings on the Ohio State University campus.

Indianola Middle School, 2006