In public statements last month, the Indianapolis-based developer of the proposed Eleven Park called the site “shovel ready” and “ready to build.”
“We can actually start digging next month,” Ersal Ozdemir, owner of the Indy Eleven soccer team and development firm Keystone Group, told Inside INdiana Business in May.
But any digging at the site, where four historic cemeteries were located, will look much different than typical construction, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Any future development at the site of the former Diamond Chain complex would require a “controlled and systematic excavation,” said DNR spokesperson Holly Lawson. She declined multiple requests for an interview with the state’s archaeologist but answered Mirror Indy’s questions by email.
Practically speaking, workers would use a backhoe or similar equipment to remove a few inches of soil at a time. If they encounter human remains or artifacts, they would continue excavation by hand using tools such as shovels, trowels and brushes. All excavated soil would be passed through one-quarter inch mesh, Lawson said.
Such an excavation “would happen proactively prior to development to mitigate any impact on human remains or other archaeological features,” she said.
Meanwhile, the city of Indianapolis is committing to a full excavation of its portion of the historic cemeteries before it starts construction on the east side of the Henry Street bridge project. That project, which connects the east side of the river to the Elanco headquarters at the former GM Stamping plant, includes infrastructure improvements and an extension of the Cultural Trail.
Much of the roughly 20-acre site was used as the city’s earliest cemeteries during the 19th century. Although the remains of thousands of people were relocated to other cemeteries, an unknown number of people remain buried there. Construction crews have repeatedly uncovered remains throughout the last century.
Both Keystone and the city had previously committed to a process called “archaeological monitoring,” where construction work on the site proceeds as it typically would, but an archaeologist is onsite to watch for human remains or artifacts. After remains are discovered, excavation looks similar to systematic excavation — soil is removed a few inches at a time, and then remains are carefully removed by hand.
The systematic process was triggered when Keystone uncovered remains in December, and that will be the process moving forward, rather than waiting for crews to uncover additional remains during future construction.
The city has chosen to fully excavate its area before any construction begins.
“We’re going to be doing archaeology work throughout the entire process until we can get to the end,” said Shannon Killion, a Department of Public Works stormwater administrator who is leading the bridge project, told Mirror Indy.
“We’re going to be doing archaeology work throughout the entire process until we can get to the end,” said Shannon Killion, a Department of Public Works stormwater administrator who is leading the bridge project, told Mirror Indy.
Human remains triggered proactive process
Now that multiple intact graves have been uncovered, archaeological monitoring is no longer sufficient on Keystone’s site, according to the DNR. Lawson said she could not comment on the city’s site, because the department has not received a plan from the city’s new contractor.
In May, Keystone’s contractors reported uncovering 87 graves in addition to more than 82 individual bones during the demolition of the Diamond Chain factory, according to public records obtained by Mirror Indy.
It’s unclear how much of the roughly 20-acre site Keystone would have to excavate systematically, Lawson said. That will depend on the final plans for the site. Areas where the ground would remain undisturbed would not require excavation.
Keystone had previously proposed a $1.5-billion multi-use development anchored by a 20,000-seat soccer stadium, but those plans were upended recently when Mayor Joe Hogsett and the City-County Council decided to pursue a potential Major League Soccer stadium at an alternative location downtown.
It’s unclear what Keystone will do with the site moving forward. In response to questions about the future of the site and whether it was ready for development, Keystone’s spokesperson Alexandra Miller said “the site is demolished and shovel ready. If there are any future findings the same archaeological process will continue to be followed under all state and local guidelines.”
The Department of Natural Resources has not received additional plans for Keystone’s site.
The city has offered to buy the land from Keystone at fair-market value, a proposal Miller called a “last-ditch effort to salvage the bungled rollout of a half-baked idea” in a statement to the media.
Indy commits to excavation and transparency
The city has decided to contract with the archaeological firm Stantec to completely excavate the roughly 1.4-acre area of the cemeteries that fall within the footprint of the Henry Street bridge project.
Stantec has experience with relocating remains. Over the course of three months in 2018, archaeologists exhumed remains of more than 500 people in slightly less than an acre in Decatur Township to make room for a stormwater project at the Indianapolis International Airport. The remains were reinterred in Concordia Cemetery on the south side of Indianapolis. The relocation cost $4.4 million, according to the Indianapolis Airport Authority’s financial statements.
“Stantec is going to provide this project with an excavation process that’s led by archeologists, rather than one led by contractors,” said Brandon Herget, director of the city’s Department of Public Works, in an interview with Mirror Indy. “It’s an important pivot for the Department of Public Works, and again, it’s the right decision, because it’s the one that the community has asked for.”
The decision is the culmination of more than a year of conversations with community members who raised concerns about the bridge’s impact on human remains at the site, potentially including African American burials in an area described in historical records as a segregated cemetery.
In response to community concerns, the city formed a Community Advisory Group of local historians, archivists, genealogists and preservations to inform its decisions on how the site would be handled.
Over the course of several months starting later this year, Stantec’s crews will use mechanical tools to slowly remove the top layers of soil before proceeding by hand, typically in teams of two people per grave. Once archaeologists are satisfied that the site has been cleared, the city will proceed with building that portion of the bridge project.
“Instead of approaching this as, let’s see when we accidentally discover something that we don’t know is there,” said Ryan Peterson, Stantec’s lead archaeologist on the city’s project, “the city is acknowledging, look, we know there’re graves; we’ve seen that there’re graves adjacent to this.”
Herget said that the city continues to commit to a level of transparency that exceeds what is required by state law. The city is required to report its findings to the state’s Department of Natural Resources. But whenever remains are found at the site, as soon as they are transferred to a lab at Indiana University Indianapolis, those findings will be reported to the Community Advisory Group.
Over the past several months, the city’s researchers have been working to determine which graves were moved from the historic cemeteries to Crown Hill Cemetery. They’ve uncovered some removals, but there are many that are unaccounted for.
Many remains also were relocated from the oldest burial ground to Floral Park in the 1920s, but the city’s consultant estimates that as many as 200 burials remain there.
“Where we haven’t done any work on this section of cemetery, we don’t definitively know. That’s why we’re bringing in the experts such as Stantec to navigate that work,” said Killion, the stormwater administrator.
The city estimates as many as 650 burials could be uncovered within their project area and has budgeted $12 million for their excavation and reinterment.
Indy will host public meeting
The city is hosting a public meeting to discuss updates to the Henry Street bridge project as well as historical research it’s been conducting on the site.
The cemeteries, collectively known as Greenlawn Cemetery, were used throughout the 19th century. Some of Indianapolis’ earliest settlers were buried there.
“This is an opportunity to encourage the city of Indianapolis to dig deep, to understand who and what we come from,” said Deputy Mayor Judith Thomas.
The meeting will be at 5 p.m. June 24 at Edison School of the Arts Inc. 47 at 777 S. White River Parkway Drive W.
A correction was made on June 24, 2024: A photo caption was updated to accurately reflect the status of the site.
A clarification was made on June 24, 2024: This story has been updated to include additional details about the archaeological process.
A correction was made on June 25, 2024: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Ryan Peterson’s name.
Reach Mirror Indy reporter Emily Hopkins at 317-790-5268 or emily.hopkins@mirrorindy.org. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis.
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