- Cost: $44M (Clarian and IU to split the cost, with a $6M contribution from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation for naming rights)
- Location: East side of Downtown Canal, between 10th St. and 11th St.
- Height: 6 stories
- Floor Space: 182,000 sq.ft. (featuring various simulators for training IU Medical/Nursing Students and Clarian Staff)
- Project Start Date: July, 2006
- Expected Completion: Summer 2008
A rendering of the finished product
Photos taken September 2007
Photos taken February 2008
5 comments:
Gosh. We actually have a biomedical cluster in Indianapolis that isn't Lilly!
Drive from 10th & White River east on 10th past the canal, then turn north on Senate to 16th, then west on 16th just past Indiana Ave.
It would be ideal if buildings surrounding the canal were designed to better engage the waterway. Although the actual construction of Fairbanks Hall is better than expected from the renderings, it still lacks interest. Why not at least have more outdoor seating areas to better connect the building and the canal?
I feel the same way. It almost seems that the city would prefer the canal to be a pristine park instead of a true civic focal point, which is the opinion they have expressed publicly. I did the concrete work on the neighboring Bugg's Temple project, and I can say that just having some kind of density there is definitely going to help the area. And Bugg's will be there to capitalize on that little area, as well as the neighborhoods/communities that flank the canal.
But I still don't see the harm in having the buildings being actually built on the canal, preferably with first level retail. Oh well, maybe something will change soon.
When the Canal was first built some people envisioned it "just like Riverwalk", the famously popular destination in San Antonio.
Unfortunately the reality is that Indianapolis' climate isn't hospitable to the 12-month outdoor activity that is possible in the sunbelt. So the canal has turned into an urban amenity instead of a "happening place".
Let's be what we are, not what someone else is. What that district is becoming is a biomedical cluster, not a club zone.
Biomedical jobs pay better, and the people who make that money are likely to spend some of it elsewhere in downtown. I'm okay with that outcome.
I agree with you quite often tundermutt, as you seem to be one of the more rational commentators in the Indy development circle. But here I have to disagree. The city is kind of forcing biotechnology on the northern half of the canal due to the BioCrossroads initiative. The central section is mostly all residential, with little to no abutting canal frontage, and the southern leg is the museum/park stretch. So I don't believe that the canal is becoming a "biomedical cluster."
And actually, if you've ever been to/seen the River Walk, it isn't a "club zone." It's actually considered a city park. There is significant fauna of all types and a number of different trees. The point is not to build a some kind of open air mall, but to create a interesting space that has appreciable planned natural beauty (a la a botanical garden) and a useful, urban feel. It is an environment that would allow a tourist who comes out of say, the IMA, and draws them to further investigate. Along the way, yes some retail would definitely be a feature as well as restaurants and other eateries. A night club may not be out of the question(River Walk has a handful, but it is several miles long). But the main focus is a place of interest that would draw residents and developers into a common location to take advantage of a great geographical feature(even one man-made). We don't have many of those to take advantage of in Indy, especially near the City Center, so we should use what we have.
I believe it is the City's attitude toward development that I believe has held this back. With the urban return happening right now, I have reason to hope that that attitude is about to change for the better.
DISCLAIMER: I do not want the City to do anything specifically to get this done. I want the City to how the French say "laissez-vous faire." Help the property holders with frontage on the canal take ownership of the Canal's future and let them build a new urban space that could help define Indianapolis for decades to come.
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