A construction project that will connect a massive redevelopment on the west side of the White River to downtown Indianapolis, but would potentially disturb human remains from the Greenlawn Cemetery, is underway.
Indianapolis city officials held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $43-million Henry Street Bridge project Oct. 30 on South White River Parkway Drive, overlooking the site where construction workers have begun building the base for the new bridge.
Construction of the Henry Street Bridge is expected to last two years and will connect the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s planned LEVEE collaborative hub, including the Elanco Animal Health headquarters, to downtown Indianapolis.
The LEVEE hub seeks to attract businesses related to research and development, plus housing, offices and retail to the 91-acre site of the former General Motors stamping plant.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. bought the former stamping plant for $22.5 million in 2020. Indianapolis financed $135 million in bonds for the Elanco headquarters, and the state provided $85 million in tax credits, grants and other incentives.
The Henry Street bridge project once overlapped with Eleven Park, a proposed $1-billion development from Indianapolis-based Keystone Group on the former Diamond Chain site that was to include a soccer stadium. Work halted on that project, though, once the city decided to pursue a Major League Soccer stadium at a different location.
The bridge will be designed to support both pedestrians and traffic and will connect to the Indianapolis Cultural Trail via a path on the north side of the bridge. The Indianapolis Department of Public Works estimates about 60% of bridge traffic will be bikes and pedestrians. The bridge will also have two lanes for vehicle traffic.
“With the investment that’s being made here and the increase you’re going to see in traffic and people working in the Valley and in the adjacent neighborhoods, you’re going to need that additional traffic capacity,” department director Brandon Herget told Mirror Indy.
Jay Napoleon, who lives in the nearby Valley neighborhood, said he and other residents are glad the bridge is being built.
“It is impossible to overstate the importance and symbolism of the trail coming across the White River with this neighborhood,” he said at the groundbreaking. “The Cultural Trail acting as it does is a way to explore the city and gives its users a blessing and seal of approval that it’s OK to be part of interacting with the river and beyond.”
The project, though, has had major issues as human remains have been found on the eastern bank of the river.
The Henry Street Bridge construction site intersects with two of four historic cemeteries collectively known as Greenlawn, where some of the earliest Indianapolis residents were buried. That includes some of the city’s first Black settlers.
Construction crews found a human hand bone during utility excavation at the site in July 2023, and the city’s archaeological team found more human remains during site core sampling in August.
“We care about history and we respect our ancestors, so when we learned the burials would be affected by our development here, we took a step back and turned to our community,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett.
The city asked a community advisory group of representatives from stakeholders like the Indiana African American Genealogy Group and the Crown Hill Foundation to focus on how to properly handle human remains and artifacts found during the project.
Duane Perry, a member of the Indiana African American Genealogy Group, is helping the city find out more about the people buried at Greenlawn and to find living relatives.
“I felt that they cared about what was being done here,” said Perry, referring to city officials. “So they enlisted us, and they worked with us. I am very encouraged about what we’re doing.”
The city created a plan for a full excavation of the eastern portion of the Henry Street Bridge site with the group. The state Department of Natural Resources approved the plan in September.
The excavation is scheduled to begin next week.
“This way, the Henry Street Bridge will serve as a connection not just between the west side and our downtown, but also as a connection between our city’s past and its future,” Hogsett said.
Earlier this month, city contractors also found granite bricks and railroad tracks at the eastern portion of the Henry Street Bridge construction that were once part of the city’s first electric freight terminal, believed to be among the world’s largest.
The state also will build a $95-million, 15-acre White River State Park extension, including an event and community center, extended promenade trail, bench swings, a water feature and a “river theater” overlook with seating that can be used for performances. The state will use a $30-million grant from the Lilly Endowment to help pay the cost.
Construction will begin in early 2025 and last 18 months.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @heyEnriqueSaenz.
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