Photos: Indianapolis Cultural Trail meets the Central Canal (Pre-construction)

Construction on the North Corridor of the Cultural Trail continues, with significant work on the realignment of St. Clair St. to accommodate the Cultural Trail at the intersection with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. Here are a pair of shots looking West on St. Clair St. from the intersection with Fayette St.





The next phase in the North Corridor construction process is the interface of the Cultural Trail with the Central Canal. This section, connecting St. Clair St. to the pedestrian bridge across the canal at Walnut St., may be the only piece of the trail that goes "off road." The trail will cut through a section of parkland on the west side of canal, immediately adjacent to the Gardens of Canal Court apartment complex. Before it's completely torn apart in the coming weeks, here are a set of pre-construction shots to document the state of the area:

Get ready for earth to be moved. This is looking Southeast at the point where
the trail will cut south from St. Clair St. to the Walnut St. pedestrian bridge.

At least DPW avoided American Dirt's complaint about putting construction warning signs directly in pedestrian walkways. It does say something about the department's mindset, however, that they have no choice but to put up a "Road Closed" sign even when they're doing construction on a walking path.

Looking north toward St. Clair St., Gardens of Canal Court at left.

Looking south toward the Walnut St. pedestrian bridge, Gardens of Canal Court at right.

Looking north from the West St. access path near the Walnut St.
pedestrian bridge. Those orange flags may denote the trail route.

Looking west from the Walnut St. pedestrian bridge.

Looking northwest from the Walnut St. pedestrian bridge at the West St. access path (left)
and the canal access path (curving right), with Gardens of Canal Court in the background.

Photo: Bar Yats -- Coming Soon

NOTE: as of 9/8/10, Joe Yuskovich and the Yats name are no longer associated with this restaurant. It is now open under the name The Bar at The Ambassador. More info can be found here and here.

How would you like your Indianapolis Central Library experience with a side of étoufée?

In the near future, it looks like that will be possible. Yats, the beloved locally-owned chain of cajun-creole restaurants, is moving into some ground floor space in the Ambassador Apartment building at 9th and Pennsylvania Sts., next to the Central Library (see the curving north side of the library at left in the picture). The twist? This Yats will feature a full bar serving cocktails. Yats joins a mixture of bars and restaurants already established on the 900 block of Pennsylvania, including Datsa Pizza, Urban Element and the Living Room Lounge.

Buckingham Properties recently purchased the Ambassador Apartment building from the Central Library and has also been quietly buying every available property immediately north of the library. In the area bounded by Meridian, 10th, Pennsylvania and the Central Library, they envision a mixed-use block called Library Square. It's refreshing to see the fruits of their work, despite the bad economy. In addition to Yats, the refurbished Ambassador Apartments reopened recently and a Key Bank branch is set to open at Meridian and Sahm Sts. shortly.

See additional information on Property Lines. Sounds like this may be a bit more than just adding alcohol service to the existing Yats concept.

DIG-B: Hiatus and Second Anniversary

Apologies for the brief absence, but I've been tending to a new priority in my life -- my new baby girl was born on September 17th! Since then, I also missed DIG-B's second anniversary, which occurred on September 24th. Blogs published in a vacuum don't mean much, so my thanks go out to everybody who continues to stop by to read and those that provide feedback with comments on the posts.

Not surprisingly, my post volume is likely to stay low for the foreseeable future, though I'll probably pop up from time to time with big items and things local to me (e.g. construction on a segment of the Cultural Trail essentially right outside my front door is set to begin 10/8, so I really have no excuse for not updating you on that). Long term, I hope to get back to two or three posts a week. Thanks everybody for continuing to read!