thumb|Detail showing detached pod
The Mabel McDowell Adult Education Center (formerly the Mabel McDowell Elementary School) is an adult education center of the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation occupying a historic building in Columbus, Indiana. The building, constructed in 1960, is a major early work of architect John Carl Warnecke. It was converted to an adult education center in 1982.
History
In 2001, the building was designated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark because of its architecture. The building's application for landmark status described it as "significant as an early example of modern architecture in Columbus, and as an important example of the contextual work of John Carl Warnecke, a leading architect of the twentieth century." The building is designed as a series of pods, connected by covered and trellised walkways. The major spaces in each pod (classrooms and other common spaces) are covered by individual pyramidal roof sections. The construction is steel framing on concrete slabs, with the walls finished in steel-clad glass and brick.