Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir is continuing his campaign to get Mayor Joe Hogsett back on board with the $1.5-billion Eleven Park project.
Ozdemir paid for a TV ad during the Indiana Pacers’ playoff game against the Boston Celtics on May 21 urging Hogsett and the City-County Council to support the project.
The five-second ad, which called Eleven Park “shovel ready,” aired a week before a council committee is set to consider Hogsett’s proposed alternative site for a downtown soccer stadium.
The May 28 Rules and Public Policy Committee meeting will be the first time the public will get to weigh in on Hogsett’s plan, which would create a tax district to help fund the stadium.
A disclaimer at the bottom of the ad said it was paid for by Indianapolis-based Keystone Group, the Eleven Park developer that Ozdemir owns.
Aside from a new 20,000-seat stadium for the Indy Eleven, the project would include apartments, retail space and other amenities.
A Keystone spokeswoman didn’t answer specific questions from Mirror Indy but said in a statement the company encourages Eleven Park supporters to “make their voices heard as the council considers an attempt to abandon the city’s commitment to near westside neighborhoods.”
A city official previously told Mirror Indy that the two sides had negotiated but never reached a deal.
Hogsett has pitched the alternative tax district — and the stadium it would fund — as the city’s best opportunity to attract a Major League Soccer expansion team. Indy Eleven is a division two team that plays in a separate league.
The ad is the latest effort to increase pressure on Hogsett. The Eleven Park website also has a petition that emphasizes the project is “ready to build.” A texting campaign also links to the petition.
Meanwhile, as Keystone and the Hogsett administration go back and forth about the economic viability of Eleven Park and its ability to attract MLS, some are questioning whether developing the site is appropriate at all.
Eleven Park would be built on top of Greenlawn Cemetery, the city’s first public cemetery that includes an area historical records describe as a segregated section. Human remains from the cemetery have been discovered at the site.
The skepticism extends to Indy Eleven fans, some of whom want human remains removed from the area before any development happens.
Keystone officials have said remains will be treated as accidental discoveries and removed only when they are found. They have declined to disclose how many remains have been found.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers economics. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick.
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