A pool, a boxing gym and sports fields. Those are some of the things community members hope to see at Grassy Creek Regional Park on the Far Eastside.
Indy Parks and Recreation held a community open house to discuss the future of the park Tuesday, Dec. 16, at the Grassy Creek Environmental Community Center, 3510 N. German Church Road.
At more than 200 acres of land, Grassy Creek is one of the cityâs largest parks. In May, the park opened its environmental community center and nature playground. Now, the parks department is in talks with Indiana Public Schools to acquire the former John Marshall High School sports fields. The Department of Public Works is also in the process of creating a multiuse trail from Mitthoefer Road to Carroll Road, which would connect to the park
Alex Cortwright, a spokesperson for the parks department, said the Dec. 16 meeting was the first step in creating a new master plan for Grassy Creek â a document used to guide future development. The parkâs last plan was created in 2009.
âIt gives us a blueprint for when funding becomes available. We then are kind of ready to go and move forward with planning and construction, because weâve already done that work ahead of time and heard from the community about what their priorities are and identified what is feasible in different park locations that weâre looking at,â Cortwright said.
At the open house, community members were able to see pictures of what the park looks like now and get inspiration for future development from examples of other parks.
Andre Denman, principal planner for Indy Parks, said the open house gave people a chance to share their concerns and hopes for the park.
âEveryone is not going to agree, but when it comes to making the master plan and finding funding, we can say âthis is what the community wanted.ââ
Denman said the parks department is using the family center at Frederick Douglass Park as an example of what could be built at Grassy Creek. He said if a family center was added to Grassy Creek, it would be in addition to the Environmental Community Center that opened this year.
Douglass Parkâs community center has an indoor track, basketball courts and a music room.
Jennifer Collins lives near Grassy Creek and uses the parkâs walking trail. This summer, her grandsons attended the parkâs summer camp and used the splash pad.
âSplash pads are nice, but I would like to see actual swimming pools here too,â Collins said. âOur kids need to learn to swim.â
Brothers Kadeem and Antwan Brogan also would like to see a pool on the Far Eastside.
âWe didnât grow with a swimming pool in our backyard; we didnât grow up with a swimming pool in our community,â Kadeem said. âWe donât have a community center. So just to have that is the start of something.â
Antwan Brogan said he runs on the parkâs trails a few times each week. He said its nice to see the improvements the park is bringing to the Far Eastside. He wants to see an indoor basketball court and opportunities for public art at the park.
Turner Case lives in Franklin Township, but attended the open house to learn more about Grassy Creek. He said the addition of the John Marshall sports fields could be beneficial to the community.
âThereâs not a lot of public tracks,â Case said. âSo I think having one thatâs reliably open at certain times of the day would be a real good amenity for people here, and maybe people even farther out, who need a good place to work out.â
Denman said Indy Parks will host more community engagement events in 2026. Community members are encouraged to take a two-question survey about acquiring the John Marshall sports fields. The survey is open through Wednesday, Dec. 31.
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Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian or on Bluesky @darianbenson.bsky.social.
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