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Remnants of the historic crane bay at the former General Motors stamping plant west of downtown Indianapolis are being torn down after state officials said the plan to convert the structure into an event pavilion deviated from potential future development efforts.
Demolition of the bay quietly began late Thursday, with work to clear the site of twisted metal and its concrete support pad expected to continue through mid-September.
A spokesperson for Secretary of Commerce David Adams said the “original vision for the site shifted” but will be reevaluated in the future as additional buildout of the property moves forward.
Elanco Animal Health, which will open its new $200 million headquarters on the property Oct. 1, spent $27 million to buy 56 acres at the site from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. on Aug. 27 and announced plans to work with Purdue University and the state to incorporate the property as part of its OneHealth Innovation District, which aims to be a research and innovation hub for human, animal and plant health sciences.
“In partnership with Elanco, the decision was made to remove the steel structure, enabling their vision with Purdue to move forward with an innovation hub—which will bring talent, industry, jobs and long-term economic growth to the region and to Indiana,” Adams’ office said.
The state owns the property on which the crane bay is located, which is separated from the new Elanco campus by a rerouted White River Parkway.
State officials previously planned to incorporate the bay into a $65 million expansion of White River State Park first reported by IBJ last October. But the status of that project is now unclear after lawmakers opted not to provide the park’s commission $15 million in funding for the first phase of the updates, as had been recommended by Gov. Mike Braun.
The IEDC previously committed $20 million from its own funds for the project. Those funds are being used for the riverside portion of the expansion, which is now under construction.
“The vision for the park’s expansion utilizing the steel structure has shifted due to changes at nearby sites and will be reevaluated going forward,” a spokesperson for White River State Park told IBJ in a written statement. “We look forward to working in partnership with the Purdue, Elanco and the One Health initiative to continue transforming the area.”
Keeping the history
Elanco spokesperson Colleen Dekker told IBJ the company’s goal in establishing its headquarters at the former stamping plant site has been to “create a destination” for employees and residents of the near-west side. But keeping the crane bay as part of that overhaul would have been too expensive.
“Given the cost and the timeline to potentially transform the crane bay into a useable corporate event space, we believe supporting its removal is the best, timely outcome to ensure delivery of the community amenities,” said Dekker, executive director of global corporate communications for the company.
The IEDC bought the 91-acre stamping plant site in 2020 for $25.5 million from Ambrose Property Group. GM operated a 2.1 million-square-foot plant on the grounds from the 1930s until its closure in 2011, employing as many as 5,600 workers. It was mostly demolished in 2013.
Retention of the crane bay structure had long been considered an integral part of the stamping plant redevelopment by neighborhood residents and city officials—not just when Elanco’s campus was announced in late 2020, but as part of the proposed $1.4 billion Waterside project that preceeded it.
As part of the state park’s expansion plan, the bay was expected to become an event pavilion that can host farmers markets, weddings, corporate gatherings and other activities.
In fact, the White River add-on had received a $30 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., most of which was earmarked for the structure’s redevelopment. It would have been called Kahn Pavilion, named in honor of Detroit industrial architect Albert Kahn, who helped design the GM facility nearly a century ago.
It’s unclear whether a portion of the Lilly Endowment’s grant could be clawed back. “Given that we have recently learned of the plans to demolish the Crane Bay structure, the Endowment is evaluating next steps regarding the grant funds,” an Endowment spokesperson said in a written statement Friday afternoon.
Without city involvement
A source close to the project told IBJ the city learned about the demolition plans last week. The city objected to paying for any portion of the work through an existing infrastructure construction contract it shares with the state. The state signed a separate contract for the demolition, although specific details of that agreement were not immediately available.
A spokesperson for Mayor Joe Hogsett said the city has spent over $130 million to-date on infrastructure in and around the property, including the $43 million Henry Street Bridge project—for which it received $15 million from the Lilly Endowment. (Tens of millions of dollars more has been spent on the project by the state, which itself views the sale of the stamping plant land to Elanco as the first step in exiting the development business.)
“The City is disappointed in the state’s decision to remove the crane bay, but remains focused on the benefits this project will bring to our city and the nearby neighborhoods,” Aliya Wishner, communications and policy director for the city, said. “City resources and Indy DPW are not involved in the removal.”
Kristin Jones, city-county councilor for District 2, which includes the stamping plant site, said she is “very, very displeased” by the state’s decision to tear down the structure without giving residents the chance to weigh in. Jones’ husband, Donny, was one of the final General Motors employees to depart the production line when the stamping plant closed in June 2011.
She said Elanco, state, city and neighborhood officials typically meet once a month to discuss the project and address any lingering challenges.
Jones said that budget problems for the White River State Park expansion, including the crane bay portion of the project, were never brought up during the meetings. She said she learned of the state’s plan to tear down the structure from the city, rather than being told first by state or Elanco officials.
“To me, it just screams malfeasance,” she said. “Because why in the world would you not tell us and get our input? … To not to have that confidence in us or come together and share that—they just by themselves made that decision—goes against the entire vision that we had created together.”
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Disband the IEDC.
Immediately after giving a portion of the site to Elanco, the IEDC should’ve transferred the remaining GM Stamping Plant land to DMD. The City of Indianapolis has, after all, spent over $100M of its own money on the site’s infrastructure with the understanding that the City would get: 1) An expansion of WRSP that incorporates the site’s history and allows folks to interact with the White River; and 2) New, non-Elanco mixed-used development to boost property tax revenue. The City is getting neither.
Instead, the IEDC shopped the non-Elanco land too narrowly – only focusing on biotech tenants for a fanciful ‘OneHealth’ district. Then, when the search inevitably failed, the IEDC gave the remaining land to Elanco who will surely maintain the space as a glorified suburban office park right outside of Downtown with way too much surface parking that generates no tax revenue.
Additionally, WRSP plans have been reduced down to a glorified river-walk that has few redeeming features and that nobody will use (assuming that the park expansion is even built at this point):
1) Due to the fact that the IEDC gave practically the entire Stamping Plant to Elanco (rather than give the land to DMD for RFP processes or find another way to attract mixed-use development), the park will inherently be unable to generate much demand from the largely vacant land to its west. Other than Elanco employees, people will have to cross the river from Downtown to utilize the WRSP expansion.
2) There will be little reason for people to cross the river from Downtown for the WRSP expansion. The tasteful ode to the site’s history – the crane bay structure – is no longer incorporated. Then the IEDC nixed plans to build a kayak launch because the public Development Corporation wasn’t bold enough/smart enough to work with relevant stakeholders to remedy the proximate low head dam. All other features planned for WRSP expansion have analogous features on the east side of the river.
At this point, the ‘OneHealth’ district is a failure and LEAP is certainly trending that way too. In both cases, the State/IEDC would’ve been better off delegating its dollars directly to municipalities rather than spend copious amounts of money flipping real estate.
Very informative. I didn’t know the details but knew something was wrong when security stopped me from riding on the newly paved White River Parkway leading to Elanco. I was told by private security that it was state owned property and no one is allowed on it.
To be fair Wildstyle, you’re more of a sensationalist than someone in the know.
I certainly defer to Roberts knowledge and experience on better understanding large scale development and many other people in “know” when I need to know something
Well said, Robert H. Typical short-sightedness and lack of transparency by the state.
A monstrous betrayal to the community at large for preserving just a little bit of Indianapolis’ history and surprising slap at the Lilly Endowment for trying to help them honor community legacy
There are similar stories all around this city. It’s indefensible
Another bait and switch! Based on the statements and rationalizations in this article, of the Elanco and state folks, this was a long term goal all along. No efforts by the state leadership and legislature were to preserve the innovative annd historic Albert Kahn structure. If you recall, most of the length of the structure had already been demolished for the Elanco building. Ambrose was the only smart one, to sell this property for over $20M, even if they lost money on the deal. The city would have still been trying to decide which way north is. The ridiculous $43M bridge to nowhere, from nowhere, is the city’s albatross in their efforts to kill Indy Eleven, and relocate ancient cemeteries. This whole process, and early proposals, is an example of more lost opportunities and the classic political cluster ***$.
This is absolutely disgusting. I’m so tired of the endless broken promises by the State and City.