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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWe are pleased to see that the budget approved by the Indiana House includes funding for a planned expansion of White River State Park into what was once the General Motors stamping plant campus.
The budget plan, which is now under consideration in the Indiana Senate, includes $15 million for the project, which will encompass about 7.5 acres on the White River’s western bank.
The project—which is expected to cost $65 million overall—is to include new green spaces, an amphitheater and a promenade overlooking the White River, as well as a redevelopment of a section of the site’s historic crane bay building into a pavilion.
In addition to the proposed legislative contribution, the White River State Park Commission has secured a $30 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and $20 million from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. for the project.
We believe the project is worthy of those investments—and we’re pleased to learn that work on the park expansion is expected to get underway in the coming weeks, with construction taking up to 18 months.
Indianapolis has never managed to take full advantage of the White River, which is not practical as a navigable waterway. It doesn’t offer the same options you have in Chicago, for example, where the Chicago River offers water taxis, tour boats and more. White River State Park offers walking and biking trails along the river, and the Indianapolis Zoo and Everwise Amphitheater sit along the riverbanks. But the city has not found ways to make the river the focus of attention.
The White River State Park expansion plan attempts to do that in part by building a set of limestone stairs within the levee that will lead visitors to an overlook offering panoramic views of downtown. The pavilion offers an opportunity for events and community gatherings with views of the river, as well.
Unfortunately, a low-head dam near the expansion site means launching watercraft such as canoes or kayaks from there would be dangerous. That limits the type of engagement the park can have with the water, but the site will still give Indianapolis an opportunity to showcase the river.
We believe that’s important as Indianapolis continues to work to sell itself as a first-class city for economic development, sports, conventions and residents. The park expansion will be adjacent to the Elanco Animal Health headquarters campus that is expected to open this year. And Elanco, Purdue and the IEDC are developing what they’ve named the OneHealth Innovation District that will encompass Elanco but is meant to attract other companies and life sciences organizations and researchers.
The site is also just downstream from Indiana University Indianapolis and the 16 Tech Innovation District, which are both working to boost their visibility and attract people from out of state.
Qualify-of-life amenities like White River State Park are important to those efforts.
We urge the Senate to maintain funding for the park expansion in its version of the two-year state budget. And we look forward to seeing how the project can be a catalyst for the western part of downtown.•
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We should collectively go a step further to urge the State to fund the removal of the low head dam. It will be sad to invest so much in a waterfront park that doesn’t allow people to actually interface with the water in a meaningful way.