Currently Browsing: Historical Posts
When the Best Preservation Efforts Go Up in Smoke
Posted by Eric McAfee in Historical Posts, Neighborhoods on May 7th, 2014 | 2 comments
One of our Urban Indy bloggers recently pointed out this lovingly restored double with Victorian touches, easily visible on Google Streetview as recently as the last camera run-through, waaaaay back in the summer of 2009. Even from the Google photo, it’s obvious that the restoration just took place; the paint is flawless, landscaping efforts haven’t yet begun, and a “for sale” sign stands in the tiny front garden. This address—105 and 111 9th Street—should be a solid investment: just a stone’s throw from the Indianapolis Public Library, only a twenty minute walk to the heart of downtown,...
The Sanctuary on Penn: breathing new life into one of Indy’s oldest churches.
Posted by Eric McAfee in Historical Posts on Feb 23rd, 2013 | 0 comments
As much as I try to avoid double-dipping with my blog posts, I had to include this reference to my latest post on my blog, American Dirt, because it is so Indy-centric. I featured it on Dirt because it is a follow-up on an essay from a few years ago.
When I first featured the First Lutheran Church on North Pennsylvania Avenue over two years ago, its condition was disheartening: marginally maintained, weatherbeaten, and vacant since 2006. Constructed in 1875, its aging, shrinking congregation had no choice but to close it, due to maintenance costs and its growing distance from where the population...
Indy City Market since 2009: an obvious improvement, but still room to grow.
Posted by Eric McAfee in Historical Posts on Dec 15th, 2012 | 7 comments
I originally posted an article on the Indianapolis City Market on my personal blog, American Dirt, two days ago. I had written an extensive study on the 125-year-old Market back in 2009 on that blog, so it made sense for any follow-up to take place there as well. But then it occurred to me that the subject is more cogent and probably of greater interest to Urban Indy readers, so the least I can do is provide a link as well as a summary here below.
As anyone who either grew up in Indy knows, the City Market has never exactly been the crown jewel of downtown. By and large, it has always been...
BRICS
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Historical Posts on Jul 23rd, 2010 | 3 comments
Through the magic of twitter, I discovered that Curt from Huston Street Racing was at BRICS the same night that I visited. He beat me to the punch with his post, but I won’t let that stop me.
There is a lot to love with BRICS. It’s good ice cream, so it’s hard to go wrong, but there’s much more than that to the story. BRICS reuses the long abandoned Monon Train Station, and there are reminders of this history throughout the shop.
The interior is clean and attractive, and features something I’ve never seen before: A single rotary turning two separate fan blades,...
Proposal for Bank One Operations Center
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Historical Posts on Jul 16th, 2010 | 15 comments
This proposal has been floating around the web and on Skyscraper City, but I have yet to post it here. This is the site plan:
They are planning on reusing the frame of the operation center, because it was built with enough strength to withstand armored truck deliveries. The development group, Milhaus, has a relatively new blog that I have added to my links.
I hope they can get started on this project soon. That block is so bleak at this point that any sign of progress would be welcomed. Hopefully, another project could come in some day to fill in that last surface parking...
