Back in 2005, I sat on the Historic Irvington Community Council’s design and zoning review committee. Irvington had just recently become a historic district and was under the jurisdiction of the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission. Not long into our life as a historic district, a developer submitted an application to redevelop the northeast corner of …
Earlier this spring, Indy Connect unveiled their initial ideas for the Purple Line. The line is intended to primarily serve 38th street, which is one of the city’s most highly travelled corridors via all modes of transit. A large amount of motorists use the arterial during peak and non-peak hours and a good amount of …
The corner of College, Mass, and St. Clair has been on my radar for years now, as it currently features one solid newer building and 5 open lots: Recently, there have been a few different proposals to change the status quo on the corner, which could become a critical link between downtown and Broad Ripple. …
The Indianapolis chapter of the American Institute of Architects will be hosting their bi-annual Architects’ Home Tour on September 20th & 21st. This year’s tour is a bit unique, in that it focuses on homes in the city and homes in distinct Indianapolis neighborhoods, 7 in all. You’ll find homes in Fountain Square, Chatham Arch, Cottage Home, …
A few weeks ago, the IBJ reported on a proposal for a 5 story mixed use building at the current site of an American Legion building in Broad Ripple. The renderings for this structure have been submitted and are posted below: This looks to be a significant step up for the northern end of Broad …
Last summer, the City began work on a year-long project to replace the structurally deficient Illinois Street Bridge Over Fall Creek.  A similarly-long project took  place in 2012 to replace the eastern side of the Meridian Bridge and restore the limestone facade.  When it reopened, Urban Indy immediately reported on the woefully inadequate sidewalk replacement …
On Monday, thanks to Derek Naber from the Department of Metropolitan Development, I had the opportunity to tour the Central State Hospital grounds to take a look at their ongoing redevelopment efforts.  Derek also sent me the latest pdf of the current plans, which can be viewed here.  I’ll excerpt a few of the more relevant slides …
Speaking of “Taking Time to Photograph…” Â Commuting home last fall I noticed a building had magically appeared on the northeast corner of 33rd & Illinois – surely it wasn’t there before, right? Turns out it had been there all along……but it had recently been transformed into a work of art. Last week I was …
Often while traveling around the city, I’ll get out of my car or dismount my bike and take some photos of structures or infrastructure that I find interesting. I do this for the blog, mainly, but I’ve also come to learn the value of having a backlog of thousands of photos stored online. One building …
Readers of the Indianapolis Business Journal may recall that two years ago, members of this blog remonstrated against the design of the OneAmerica Parking Garage.  That story has never been told on Urban Indy, until now.  The reason for sharing this now will be explained towards the end of this article.  But first, some background on …