State officials are abandoning plans to expand the White River State Park, Mirror Indy has learned.
Gov. Mike Braun’s administration made the decision in February to kill the $65 million project due to a lack of “available funding,” according to a spokesperson.
The plans had involved extending the park by 15 acres south of Washington Street to include green space, an extended walking trail and a “river theater” overlook with concert seating.
Get the backstory
When asked to comment, a Braun spokesperson deferred to the White River State Park Development Commission, the state agency overseeing the park. A majority of its members are appointed by the governor.
“Upon review, it was determined that available funding was insufficient to complete the project without reducing the scope so significantly that it would no longer meet the original objectives,” the commission said in an emailed statement. “With that information, the state made the decision to end the current project at the site and will work to explore future options to reimagine its use.”
One factor that led to a funding gap: the fallout from President Trump’s tariffs.
The 2025 state budget initially included $15 million to fund the park expansion. But that money was later stripped out after a gloomy economic forecast predicted a $2 billion shortfall in revenue due in part to the tariffs, which are taxes imposed on imported goods.
It’s unclear what will become of the land, which sits between the White River and the new Elanco Animal Health headquarters. The Indiana Economic Development Corp., the state agency that owns the parcel, did not respond to a request for comment.
The expansion was slated to happen in conjunction with Elanco’s move to the former GM stamping plant. The pharmaceutical company opened its headquarters in October.
An Elanco spokesperson said the company was “deeply disappointed” in the state’s decision to abandon the project.
“The waterfront is a significant community asset that has been underutilized for far too long,” Elanco spokesperson Colleen Dekker told Mirror Indy in an email. “Our vision since choosing this site has been to create new amenities and green space that can be enjoyed by everyone in the community. We are committed to (the) creation of this space and will continue to work to advance this vision.”
Aliya Wishner, spokesperson for Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett, said the administration is also disappointed by the state’s decision but remains “committed to any potential future opportunities to make this project a reality.”
Renderings of a planned expansion of White River State Park show an event pavilion, green space, a promenade and a”river theater” overlook of the White River. The state abandoned the project in February.
The Henry Street bridge, which will connect downtown to the near west side and the Elanco campus, is expected to open to both vehicles and pedestrians by the end of the year. Jon Howe, president of the West Indianapolis Neighborhood Congress, said he’s skeptical about the park ever being built and doubts the bridge alone will benefit neighborhood residents.
“There were guarantees for Elanco, and there were promises for the community,” Howe said. “All the money will be spent on the multiuse path going into Elanco, on getting the cultural trail to come be a benefit to a whole bunch of employees of Elanco, and not the actual community.”
How it fell apart
In December 2020, city and state officials announced that Elanco planned to relocate its Hancock County headquarters to the vacant industrial site on the near west side, a move that promised to bring 1,000 jobs and revitalize the neighborhood.
The state offered the company about $90 million in tax credits, and the city pitched in $64 million to build infrastructure in and around the site. The city also issued $51 million in bonds to pay for costs associated with the Henry Street bridge.
The park expansion broke ground in October 2024, but the project’s future became uncertain after state lawmakers stripped funding from the 2025 budget.
Then, in September, a key component of the project was abruptly scrapped. The state demolished an old crane bay that was slated to be converted into an event pavilion named after Albert Kahn, a renowned industrial architect from Indianapolis. State officials cited a “shifting vision” for the park’s expansion, and Elanco was concerned the restoration would take too much time and resources, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.
The Lilly Endowment, which had donated $30 million for the pavilion, asked for (and received) its money back.
A strip of land east of the Elanco headquarters, bordering the water, was slated to be an expansion of White River State Park, but the state officials say they have abandoned those plans. The site is seen Feb. 25, 2026, Indianapolis. Credit: Indy Drone Video for Mirror Indy
‘Disappointed’
Merri Young, 68, has lived in West Indianapolis since her teen years.
She’s seen businesses in the neighborhood come and go, and she’s seen promises made by some businesses go unfulfilled to the detriment of residents. For decades, the GM plant employed thousands of workers in The Valley neighborhood. But over the years, industries began moving away from the area, and the GM factory shut its doors in 2011. The polluted site sat empty for a decade.
“We kind of got the wrong end of the stick over here,” Young said.
Jay Napoleon, president of the Valley Neighborhood Association, has long supported the park expansion. He said abandonment of the project represents a broken promise to neighborhood residents, but he’s optimistic that the park extension will happen some day.
“While we are disappointed, the disappointment has quickly become determination to see that this commitment made for the White River State Park extension is fully realized for the people who live, play, work and visit Downtown Indianapolis,” Napoleon said in an emailed response. “To that end we will continue to work with our friends and partners both publicly and privately to ensure the promised (White River State Park) extension happens.”
Kristin Jones, a westside city-county councilor who advocated for the project, said she hopes to remain involved in conversations about plans for the site.
“Stakeholders, including community members, worked for several years to develop the White River State Park plan,” Jones, a Democrat, told Mirror Indy in an emailed statement. “It reflects a community-led vision for our city and remains deeply important to residents.”
State Sen. Andrea Hunley, a Democrat whose district includes the park and who is thought to be eyeing a run for mayor, said she’s deeply concerned about the state’s decision.
“This project was a crucial part of an exciting promise to Indianapolis residents for the future of White River State Park; this was a promise of generational impact, reconnecting neighborhoods to downtown and a powerful economic driver for our city and state,” Hunley said.
Related
Residents hope new Elanco HQ doesn’t leave neighborhood behind
Elanco held a grand opening for its westside headquarters Oct. 1.
Elanco’s headquarters is the first part of a planned research hub called the One Health Innovation District. Elanco and Purdue University will construct a facility near the headquarters for research into human, animal and plant health science.
The company, valued at $12 billion, has partnered with some entities in the neighborhood. Along with Carmel-based Hatch for Hunger, Gleaners Food Bank, IU Health and other Indianapolis-area nonprofits, Elanco started the Nutrition Secure Indy program, which provided groceries and nutrition training for about 250 families from the nearby Edison School of the Arts. The company also donated a walk-in freezer to the new Mary Rigg Food Pantry.
Elanco, which is a shortened version of Eli Lilly and Co., broke apart from its parent company in 2018.
‘They got the money’
Other westside residents worry that the extension plan’s demise will benefit Elanco by letting it expand into the neighborhood.
There’s precedent for their concerns, as last August Elanco purchased 56 acres of state-owned land near its headquarters. The company hasn’t announced any plans for further expansion in the neighborhood.
Elanco’s moves remind westsiders like Young of Lilly’s westside expansion more than 30 years ago.
In the 1990s, the company embarked on a $540 million expansion to its Lilly Technology Center. The company purchased many homes in what used to be the Little Valley portion of the neighborhood south of Morris Street throughout the 1980s. Less than a handful of houses remain along Silver Avenue southeast of the technology center.
The city also acquired dozens of homes and businesses on about 1,000 acres of land along Harding and Morris Streets to widen the streets for the expansion at the cost of $45 million in public funds. Indianapolis also gave up a 3,400-foot stretch of Kentucky Avenue to Lilly and gave it a 10-year tax abatement.
Residents at the time complained that Lilly and the city were making deals in secret. That was later confirmed by the city’s controller, who said the company required it in order to make its $1 billion investment.
“None of that has benefited us as a neighborhood in West Indianapolis. It seems like anything Lilly wanted to do, Lilly got done. And I foresee the same thing with Elanco because they got the money,” Young said.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.
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