Historic Indiana Oxygen Co. Building lands medical tenant

The historic Indiana Oxygen Co. Building in the Fletcher Place neighborhood is set to welcome its first significant tenant in more than a decade next month after the renovation of the building’s second floor by Indiana Spine Group.

The historic two-story building at 351 S. East St. will be partially occupied by the medical group, although it appears plans are in the works for other portions of the property.

The Carmel-based firm spent about $1 million to renovate and equip a 4,000-square-foot space on the second floor of the building, with plans to open the office by mid-June.

The building, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, was purchased for $1.5 million in July 2018 by a holding company called 502 Fletcher Ave. LLC led by Dr. Justin Miller, an orthopaedic spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group.

The 95-year-old structure, which occupies a prominent site at the northeast corner of East Street and Fletcher Avenue in the Fletcher Place neighborhood, has been mostly vacant since the closure of the upscale Dunaway’s restaurant in late 2014.

The Indiana Spine Group’s new downtown office in the building will be the company’s third in Indianapolis, joining locations in the Castleton area and near Indianapolis International Airport. It has 10 more offices in the suburbs and 27 overall throughout the state, from as far east as Richmond to as far west as Terre Haute, with locations in Logansport and Peru to the north, and Bloomington and Columbus to the south.

“We chose this location in the old Oxygen Building to be in the heart of the city near other leading health care companies,” Ellen Lucas, business development manager for the company, told IBJ. “Indianapolis downtown is growing residentially and as a leading health care provider in the spine care industry, [so] we want to be available to those residing and working in the vicinity.”

The office will offer clinical services, including consultations and pre- and post-operation appointments. It will also feature a procedure suite that will be equipped to do minimally invasive procedures.

The medical staff is expected to include Dr. Peter Swiatek—a surgeon—as well as two physicians, Dr. Jonathan Gentile and Dr. Lori Kiefer. Lucas said the size of the office allows for inclusion of space for  non-invasive operations—procedures that cannot be done at many of the other Indiana Spine Group locations.

The company’s headquarters along U.S. 31 in Carmel is connected to the Indiana Spine Hospital, a sister company that performs inpatient and some outpatient procedures.

Lucas said she could not discuss plans for other parts of the building, which includes a main level and a basement, as well as a rooftop patio area that was previously used by the restaurant. Dunaway’s was created by former St. Elmo owner Jeff Dunaway and operated from 1998 to 2014.

Miller declined to discuss plans for the rest of the Art Deco building, but construction permits filed with the state indicate that 11,850 square feet on the first floor is being renovated into a hospitality space for small events.

Saved from the wrecking ball

Constructed about six blocks from its current site, at 435 S. Delaware St., in 1930 by the the Indiana Oxygen Co., the building almost didn’t survive to see this century.

The structure was listed as one of the state’s most endangered properties from 1991 to 1994 by Indiana Landmarks.

Because of its historical significance, Eli Lilly acquired the building in 1991 and donated it to Indiana Landmarks. The 735-ton structure was moved six blocks to its new location in 1995. Dunaway bought the building in 1997 and opened his high-end restaurant a year later.

The building’s namesake, Indiana Oxygen Co., which occupied the building for more than a half-century, remains in operation on the city’s northwest side and at numerous branches throughout the state. Founded in 1915, it is the oldest gas and welding supply distributor in the United States and serves a variety of industries, including manufacturing, agriculture and motorsports.

The company’s connection to the building can still be seen in the limestone accents on the exterior, which are shaped like oxygen tanks.

Indiana Oxygen has been extensively involved with the Indianapolis 500 since the race’s beginnings and is the oldest sponsor in its history. The company’s founders sponsored two cars in the first race in 1911 and the business has supplied numerous gases at the race for welding, tire inflation and pneumatic tools for decades. It even supplied the helium for the race’s massive traditional balloon launch that was put on hold earlier this decade.