Neighborhood Tours

Historic Fountain Square

Monday, April 28, 2008 1:15-3:30 PM

Surrounding a town square and fountain, this off-beat neighborhood commercial district is just southeast of downtown. Vintage and antique shops, a ’50s-influenced diner, working artists, galleries, and live performances are intertwined with neighborhood restaurants and ethnic eateries. The district’s anchor, the refurbished Fountain Square Theatre Building, houses several restaurants, two duckpin bowling alleys, a conference center, a rooftop garden, and a quaint inn.  Visit this culturally diverse neighborhood and see how Southeast Neighborhood Development has partnered with LISC, the City of Indianapolis, community groups, and many others to steadily transform this once-declining neighborhood.

Sports Arenas in the Urban Core

Monday, April 28, 2008 1:15-3:30 PM

Locating a sporting arena in the heart of downtown can help increase foot traffic that translates into higher sales for surrounding restaurants and stores.  Learn about Indianapolis’s basketball and football sporting venues, which continuously generate additional revenue for the city.

Phased Development along Massachusetts Avenue

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 8:15-11:30 AM

Take a journey along the East Tenth Street and Massachusetts Avenue corridors to see how the will of a few dedicated community groups are making sweeping changes.  The tour highlights incremental revitalization efforts that are underway; from façade improvements to a larger scale mixed-use initiative that will help reinvigorate the northern end of the corridor.  The tour concludes with an area where the largest investments of time and money are making the most impact, resulting in joint venture commercial and residential projects rising alongside the city’s seven mile, $50 million dollar streetscape improvement initiative.

Creative Conversion on the Near North Side

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 8:15-11:30 AM

Similar to many American cities, Indianapolis’s Near North Side neighborhood was once outfitted with multiple industries and communities that created architecturally sound building stock.  As the community changed, so did these buildings’ inhabitants.  View buildings that originated as churches and warehouses and have been adaptively reused as market-rate condos, affordable apartments, live/work spaces for artists, and schools for neighboring children.

*Neighborhood tours are optional and available at a cost of $15 each.  You may select up to one tour per day.