When people in the Bellaire neighborhood see a need, they ask Ivan Holder for help. He’s the president of the Bellaire Neighborhood Association, and he’s lived there for 25 years.
“When we first started this neighborhood association, we found out that the neighborhood was going down,” Holder said. “It just was going apart. It was getting regenerated and gentrified.”
Just outside of Bellaire, which is the area from Rosslyn Avenue to Penwood Drive between 46th Street and 52nd Street, is Arsenal Park.
“Someone called me, and said, ‘Mr. Holder, these basketball courts are being neglected,’” Holder said. “And I kind of figured that, because they remodeled the park three times, and they had invested in a skate park and a water park.
“Grass was growing out of the asphalt, and they had one rim on and no net. So Arsenal Park would be a really nice place we can get up to date for everyone,” he said.
Holder, a veteran of the Marine Corps, started the neighborhood association in 2020. People met on Zoom, and later, meetings moved to the basement at New Paradigm Christian Church.
Bellaire Neighborhood Association president Ivan Holder speaks during a Bellaire Neighborhood Association meeting at New Paradigm Christian Church, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy 
Jacquelyn Tschudi speaks during a Bellaire Neighborhood Association meeting. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy 
Marion County Health Department inspector Scott Amrhein speaks during a Bellaire Neighborhood Association meeting. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy 
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Crime Watch Specialist Gerardo Becerra speaks during a Bellaire Neighborhood Association meeting. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy 
Informational resource documents sit on a table during a Bellaire Neighborhood Association meeting Jan. 16, 2025, at New Paradigm Christian Church. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy
He has a vision for Bellaire, a historic neighborhood, but he needs more people to get involved. When he retired as an HVAC technician in 2020, he started to research his neighborhood at the library. He found a 1922 advertisement calling it “Bellaire the beautiful.”
He wants to see that beauty, in the form of a place where both kids and older people feel safe and comfortable, where local entrepreneurs can flourish, and where neighbors help each other out. At 63, he’s looking for a new president to succeed him, so he can take on a supporting role.
“We’re hoping one day that we will come together and be as one, and I think that’s going to happen,” he said. “I see changes in people. I see people helping each other out. Oh man, people are helping people shovel snow.”
How to attend a Bellaire Neighborhood Association meeting
🗓️ 6-7:30 p.m. the third Thursday of each month
📍 New Paradigm Christian Church, 2021 E. 52nd Street.
You can stay updated with the neighborhood’s Facebook page, Nextdoor and website.
Why go to a Bellaire Neighborhood Association meeting
You can bring up concerns or questions, learn how things work in city government and meet community helpers. You can also get to know your neighbors.
Five people attended the January meeting. Speakers included an officer from the IMPD North District and a representative from the Marion County Health Department. One neighbor asked the health official about the rules for illegal dumping. A teacher asked if any coat drives were happening in the area, so she could help her students.
Holder brought donuts from Long’s Bakery on Tremont Street, and a neighbor made coffee.
In the past, the association has hosted speakers from Gleaners, Overdose Lifeline and the office of U.S. Representative André Carson.
Ivan Holder’s goals for Bellaire in 2025
Bellaire has a few well-known neighborhood spots: IPS School 91, the new Nickel Plate Trail and, just outside the area’s boundaries, Arsenal Park, Black Circle Brewing, GoldLeaf Savory & Sweet and Loom, a laundromat and bar.
Holder wants to start a community development corporation to encourage more development that’s good for older and younger neighbors.
“You can have a drugstore, pharmacy, a convenience store. You can have a couple of liquor stores and a nightclub, but it shouldn’t be flooded with it. A coffee shop. We want to balance it,” he said.
Houses line a street Jan. 24, 2025, in the Bellaire neighborhood of Indianapolis. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
Teek’s Barber Shop on Jan. 24, 2025, in the Bellaire neighborhood of Indianapolis. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
Rousseau McClellan School 91 on Jan. 24, 2025, in the Bellaire neighborhood of Indianapolis. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
The Tylane Building, which houses New Paradigm Christian Church, seen on Jan. 24, 2025, in the Bellaire neighborhood of Indianapolis. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy
Each year, Holder picks three to four things he wants to accomplish. Last May, they hosted a community day in the parking lot of New Paradigm Christian Church, where they gave out hot dogs and brought in community resource booths and vendors. They also created a community garden on the east side of the New Paradigm building.
This year, Holder and the association will do another community day, keep cleaning up the neighborhood and work on starting the community development corporation. He also wants to work closely with neighborhood organizations that overlap with Bellaire’s area or are close by, like SoBro and Monon Keystone.
Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.
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