Photos: Indianapolis Cultural Trail Glick Peace Walk

Work on the Glick Peace Walk continues on the two blocks of Walnut between Capitol and Meridian. There are a total of 10 installations on these blocks, with two more to be installed downtown on the Central Corridor (directions to the other 10 will be included at these two pieces). Here's how the designers envision the walk.


And here's a peak at the on-going work for a few of the honorees.






Photos taken April 17, 2010.

Photos: Cosmopolitan on the Canal -- The Left Bank Patio

The Left Bank coffee shop -- operated by street-level neighbor Mo'Joe Coffeehouse -- will be occupying the canal-front retail space of the Cosmopolitan on the Canal. A concrete patio for canal-side outdoor seating began to be poured on Friday and The Left Bank is expected to open in early May. Here's a peak at the first stage (they have since poured more).

A cozy corner immediately north of the Indiana Historic Landmarks Foundation Headquarters.

Looking north, a view of the entire canal frontage.

The entrance for The Left Bank.

According to the leasing office, this side of the retail frontage (the northern half) is a residents social area. The Left Bank will be in the southern portion of the space, and looking through the windows, it appears that there is no strict partition (a two-sided fireplace roughly divides the space). EDIT (4/4/10): The sidewalks are done and you can now walk right up and look in the windows. There is definitely a full wall separating the Left Bank Cafe from the rest of the space. The Left Bank will only occupy about one-third of the canal-front space to boot. Very unfortunate.

Photo: Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Photo 24

The North Corridor of the Cultural Trail will feature new traffic lights at the intersections of Walnut St. with Senate Ave., Capitol Ave, and Illinois St. These intersections were previously all free flowing for the streets crossing Walnut St. New street light masts have been installed at all these intersections, though the lights have not yet been installed. Here is one of the masts at Walnut St. and Senate Ave.:

Looking northeast at the intersection of Walnut St. and Senate Ave.

Photos: Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Photo 23

As part of the design of the North Corridor of the Cultural Trail, the intersection of St. Clair St. and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. was shifted slightly north to accommodate the Trail on the south side of St. Clair St. This is what the intersection looks like today:

Looking east from the southwest corner of the intersection.

The center island of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. was extended significantly to the north
to provide a safe stopping zone for those unable to cross the street in the available time.

Photos: Construction Begins on Sarojo Commons

Site clearing began for Sarojo Commons about a month ago and concrete foundations are now beginning to be poured. Here's a peak at the work being done on the southeast corner of Capitol Ave. and St. Clair St.

Looking south, Capitol Ave. at right.

Looking east, St. Clair St. at left.

The entire site, looking southeast across the intersection of Capitol Ave. and St. Clair St.

A rendering of Sarojo Commons, submitted to the Metropolitan Development Commission.

Photos: Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Photo 22 (Set)

Indianapolis Power & Light has been working nearly every day for the last couple of weeks at the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. and St. Clair St. They appear to be restringing power lines to different poles so that poles blocking the Cultural Trail and St. Clair St. can finally be removed. These photos depict the current state, with poles periodically sticking out of the road and the trail.

Looking east on St. Clair near the intersection with Fayette St.

Looking east on the Cultural Trail near the Central Canal.

Looking west on the Cultural Trail near the intersection of St. Clair St. and California St.

Photos: AJ's Lounge at Senate Manor

What a difference some paint and new awnings can make. The new owners of Senate Manor (Senate Ave. and North St.) have been busy for the past several months renovating the 77-unit, two-building complex into "upscale apartments." They also gave the facade of AJ's Lounge, a small neighborhood bar, a nice upgrade.

February 8, 2009

March 7, 2010

Photos: Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Photo 21 (Set)

This photo set focuses exclusively on one block of the Cultural Trail: Walnut St. between Senate Ave. and Capitol Ave. This block is unusual in that the entire road bed has been replaced by the Cultural Trail. I've been told that this is to be a shared vehicle and trail space, as businesses around Walnut St. require access to Walnut St. for trucks, but that signage will attempt to limit unnecessary vehicles on the trail.

Looking East on Walnut St. at Senate Ave.

Looking East at the inlaid brick pattern.

Looking East at the Cultural Trail-standard lamp posts.

Looking East at the intersection with Roanoke St. (an alley).

What was once a sidewalk along Zesco Products'
building is now a raised bed of greenery.

Looking Southwest from the intersection of Walnut St. and Capitol Ave.

For comparison, earlier construction photos of this area -- with the sidewalks and road bed completely removed -- are available here.

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.

Development: Senate Ave. and St. Clair St. -- A Blank Slate

Several years ago this warehouse went on the market (9th St. and the Canal, still currently used by Kirkbride Bible Co.):


Then sometime in the last year or so, this warehouse went on the market (east side of Senate Ave., between St. Clair St. and Walnut St., previous tenant unknown):


Then a couple weeks ago, this warehouse went on the market (St. Clair St. and the Canal, formerly B.H. Gardner Co.):


And now, as of a week or so ago, this warehouse is on the market (St. Clair St. and Capitol Ave., formerly Litho Press Inc.):


The former Litho Press building is a full quarter-block, four story building at St. Clair St. and Capitol Ave. It's just begging for a first rate refurb that opens up the huge window openings that were bricked-up years ago. It could be a great residential loft conversion, though many other uses are certainly possible. An 88 space parking lot is associated with the building. Here are a couple photos that show the detailing on this old warehouse:

The Southeast corner of the building, St. Clair St. facade.

Same location, focusing on the roofline.

Looking West at the Capitol Ave. facade.

Same location, focusing on the detail around the main entrance.

The Northeast corner of the building.

With the Litho Press building now on the market, my eyeball estimate is that about 25% of the land in the four city blocks around the intersection of Senate Ave. and St. Clair St. is now actively for sale. Additionally 15% or so could be classified as completely vacant or underutilized (though not actively for sale). Talk about a blank slate!

Here's a look at the land for sale (sites outlined in green) and vacant/underutilized (outlined in red), with the Cultural Trail route through this area in blue:

View Senate and St. Clair in a larger map (longer descriptions of each site are also available).

With this much land simultaneously available, it behooves the city to have a specific, long-term vision for how redevelopment of this area should progress. This is doubly important given that this area sits adjacent to the future crossroads of Indianapolis' two great urban walkways: the Cultural Trail and the Central Canal Walk. The Indianapolis Regional Center Plan 2020 specifies 'Residential 27-49 DUA' (Dwelling Units per Acre) for the block northwest of the intersection and 'Research Community Mixed-Use' for the remaining three blocks.

What goals should the city have for this area?

Photos: More Al Fresco Dining on Washington St.

New outdoor seating areas recently opened for The Pita Pit and Adobo Grill.

Looking East on Washington St., just East of Pennsylvania St.

The expansion of al fresco dining on Washington St. doesn't end there. At the intersection of Washington and Illinois, Tastings, a new wine bar in the Conrad that is scheduled to open in the fall, plans to have outdoor seating on the northeast corner, while Panera Bread has filed plans to have a seating area on the northwest corner (opening date not yet known).

Development: Canal Restaurants -- One Opportunity Not Yet Lost

While the natural draw of the Central Canal presents a unique opportunity for restaurants to generate business during the warm summer months, an almost complete lack of drawing power during the winter makes profitable business during those cold months nearly impossible. Because of that, and despite all the clamoring that is commonly heard for canal-side dining, the near-term odds for full-year canal restaurants are dismal.

For now, I believe that the best prospects for year-round restaurants on the canal are at the interfaces of streets and the canal. Bi-level restaurants with one floor fronting the street and the lower floor fronting the canal would provide restaurants with the best of both worlds: the draw of canal-side dining during the warm months and the safety of a standard street-front for advertising and access during cold months. Unfortunately, there are precious few of these locations left (one such opportunity exists at the B.H. Gardner site I recently wrote about).

There is also a similar opportunity presented by the head of the canal. That northern terminus slopes up to street level all around, in a way providing canal-front at street level. The restaurants in Buggs Temple can make it work as year-round restaurants right now because they front both the canal and 11th St. (obviously, their proximity to three mid-rise office buildings and a transit stop doesn't hurt). Unfortunately, the unique opportunity of this zone was wasted in the IU/Clarian Fairbanks Hall and almost completely squandered by the IUPUI Health Information and Translational Sciences (HITS) Building.

An opportunity for Fairbanks Hall to interact with 10th St. (and the canal) was lost.

The HITS Building was dedicated in 2007, providing 167k sq.ft. in a 6-story $42M concrete structure. Almost all of its canal frontage is occupied by office windows and a massive main entrance. However, it also provides an interesting, and until now completely vacant, space immediately next to the entrance.

The IUPUI Health Information and Translational Sciences Building.

At the HITS Building groundbreaking ceremony, it was reported that, "When completed in 2006, the building also will include restaurants and other shops to serve the occupants of the building and the general public." When the building was dedicated on March 7, 2007, the IU School of Medicine's press release stated, "As an added convenience for employees, the building includes 3,810 square feet of retail space for a café and other specialty shops." Two-and-a-half years on and none of this promise has materialized, though fortunately, the space is still available.

Three doors provide access: two seen here to the right of the main entrance

that open directly to the canal -- one is partially behind the first pillar, the

other is between the third and fourth pillars -- and one off of the main lobby.

Utilizing this space seems like such a slam dunk for both the building and the canal that, even if it were a chain of some sort operated by Chartwells (the IUPUI Food Service contractor), I'm not sure why this space still isn't occupied. Parking could be a concern, but a core business of serving lunch to employees working in and around this building should not require parking. Serving dinner is probably a stretch, but opening up the 27 parking spaces in the small lot on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. side of the building to after hours public parking could also make dinner service viable. The visibility of the building on 10th and 11th Sts. also provides an opportunity for signage to advertise such a space.

A small parking lot for the HITS Building sits next to Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. St., with an entrance off of 10th St. shown here.

Whatever the reason for the delay up to this point, here's hoping we don't have to wait another two and a half years for this space to be put to good use.