Henry Street Bridge and Eleven Park

Depending on your news source, you might have seen that the Henry Street Bridge project will begin construction of Phase 2 this week. Some of you might be asking, why I'm talking about an Indianapolis Department of Public Works project on a soccer-specific, and more specifically, generally an Indy Eleven-centric-specific site? That's because the Henry Street Bridge project is relevant to this site's content since it is located immediately south of the lot that was intended to be the future home of Eleven Park. In the aerial view of the proposed bridge, the lot with all the trees would be the "intended" location of Eleven Park. 

I say "was intended" because Mayor Hogsett's desired plan to kill the Eleven Park development made it through all the required hoops to move the Professional Sports Development Area  (PSDA) from the Eleven Park site to the PSDA #2 site, which has been indicated to be the existing heliport site. Though best I can tell, the State Budget Committee has not discussed the finances of the Mayor's proposed site, at least not in a public meeting. So Indianapolis residents and Indy Eleven fans still do not have any indication regarding the Mayor's mysterious MLS ownership group nor whether the State Budget Committee will continue to plow down the Mayor's path of officially submitting for a bid to join MLS. A bid that I continue to suspect will be rejected, particularly in the near-term.

In the three months since the Mayor dropped the MLS bombshell on Indy Eleven fans, all the hurdles to move the State funding from the Keystone property to the Mayor's preferred location have moved forward. What hasn't moved forward is any kind of progress at the Eleven Park site. I periodically drive by the site just to see if there is anything that looks different from my last drive-by. The night of the New Mexico United, the Indianapolis Colts also had a preseason game and the parking lot that once was the site of the stadium groundbreaking was being used for event parking for the Indianapolis Colts' game. This past weekend when I drove by on my way to Carroll Stadium before the Pittsburgh game, the construction trailer that had been sitting on the lot for the past year was no longer there. I can't recall if it was there the night of the Colts' game, but the trailer felt like a more recent departure. 

As Indy Eleven and Keystone remove things from the location or use a part of it for event parking, the Mayor and the Indianapolis DPW will be moving things into the area. The Phase 2 work (Phase 1 began on the west side of the White River in January) will take place within the White River. From the City's announcement, the contractor "is expected to begin removing the existing bridge piers in the White River north of Oliver Avenue. Bridge construction will begin at the west side at the levee later this year." Phase 3 will connect the bridge to Kentucky Avenue with new roadway.

That last part of the announcement about Phase 2 is key because that gives the City time to finalize their plan for the remains associated with the burial ground that used to be the Greenlawn Cemetery that are within the Henry Street Bridge's right-of-way for the Phase 3 section of the project. As was indicated in the June presentation of the White River Innovation District that includes the Henry Street Bridge, the DPW and City staff made sure to point out that the Henry Street Bridge, but particularly the roadwork, would be and "Archaeologist-led excavation, rather than Contractor-led excavation" and that "Archaeology work will begin in late 2024." 

I continue to find the subtle "contractor-led" jab simultaneously amusing and a bit childish. 

So while the City's plan continues to move forward, Indy Eleven and Keystone, conversely, look to be moving backwards. I chose to not reach out to the club before this article because it hasn't done me much good in the past when it comes to discussions about the stadium. However, as it stands, publicly, Indy have no announcements on any stadium plans, and have naturally begun season ticket renewals at Carroll Stadium. I'm sure the Eleven Park design is on hold because any plan related to the burial grounds' remains that cover significantly more area than the Henry Street Bridge roadway can no longer include any public-funded/assisted money since the Mayor has shifted the PSDA to another site. So unless there are some backdoor discussions about transferring the site and/or the City helping with the cost for interment of the remains, Keystone has ~25-acres that are going to be difficult to develop.

There are some secondary effects of losing the stadium as well. It appears that the the Indy Eleven USL Super League team is now, at a minimum, on hold. Putting the Super League team on hold means that Coach Dolinsky found another team in Lexington where he could run their USL W League team and be part of the Super League coaching staff. Shortly, we all expect that the MLS will officially state that Indy isn't going to be awarded a team, and Indianapolis will have lost a soccer stadium, a first division women's soccer team, and the coach that has been the most successful coach in the club's history. 

The Henry Street Bridge is moving forward though. 

Only question that I have now will be what that roadway passes. A fenced off abandoned plot of land doesn't seem out of the question, does it?